The Secret Santa
by Edgehog Jeremy
Summary: When Shadow attends a Christmas Party and sees Amy after many years, Shadow develops a crush on her. However, things become complicated when he and Sonic both draw Amy's name during the Secret Santa name drawing. What! Now both of them will compete for her affections and ultimately try to date the girl of their dreams. Who will prevail in the end? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone! I got a brand new story for all of you and this one is completely different from the previous ones that I have tried to write. This is a story that has been on my mind for quite some time and I felt the time was right to begin revealing what I have been coming up with the past couple of months since I hit a really bad patch of writer's block. Reviews are always welcome and let me know what you think of this story and what could be improved, I'm always open to criticism. Well I won't keep you any longer so go ahead and read what I have to offer. Enjoy!

Chapter 1:

Excuses Don't Mean Anything When You're a Few Years Late

The chalk white snow crunched beneath Shadow's shoes as he slowly made the journey from his car to up the driveway, regret filling his every footstep.

Maybe I shouldn't be here, this is all a big mistake just waiting to happen, the ebony hedgehog thought as he started up the stairs towards the front door. It had been years since he had seen any of them, any of the ones he could truly call "friends". They had all gone their separate ways, to go out and achieve success and live their lives. All of them had managed to keep in touch but once again Shadow exiled himself from them for reasons unknown. He had wanted to keep all of them close but something in his heart had told him that it wouldn't be wise. He was just a loner by nature and design, a vagabond that resisted and couldn't commit to close relationships. Shadow stood in front of the door and knocked a couple of times, second thoughts trying their hardest to push to the forefront of his mind.

You can still leave...it's not too late, his mind kept telling him but yet his feet stood planted right in front of the door, waiting entrance from the occupants inside. He could see the bright lights and decorations didn't just cover the exterior of the house but it also extended to the interior as well. Through the window he could see multitudes of bright red and greens strewn about everywhere as well as a lit up christmas tree sitting by a raging fire in the fireplace. The sound of the door opening caused Shadow's focus to shift from the window to the doorway where a figure stood before him that although he would never admit it, he missed dearly.

"Shadow!" Rouge exclaimed, her breath manifesting in the night air due to the cold. She walked out onto the doorstep to embrace the ebony hedgehog into a light hug.

"Hey...Rouge." Shadow replied as he returned her hugged awkwardly, he wasn't really known for being able to show affection. They soon broke away from one another and that is when Rouge looked into Shadow's crimson orbs with sincerity and spoke.

"I'm so glad you could make it. It's been years. I've missed you so much." Shadow's heart warmed slightly at her words. He had been missed by someone, how touching.

"But can you please explain to me why you didn't answer my messages for the longest time?" Rouge asked in a slightly bitter tone. It was like a switch had been flipped on her emotional control panel.

She's happy to see me and now she might want to rip my head off...what in the hell is wrong with this woman? Shadow thought grumpily as he knew he was on the receiving end of what could be a nasty verbal assault. However, she did have a point. She had messaged Shadow countless times and it wasn't like Shadow could say that he hadn't seen them, because he had it was just that he didn't really know what to say. He didn't know how to begin a conversation after being away from her life for so long. He had kept tabs on everyone via facebook but that was about it. The only person that ever messaged him had been Rouge but he never responded. Yet, she never gave up on trying to contact him. As annoying as it might have been looking at it, Shadow had to admit, Rouge was pretty damn persistent, and it was that persistence that had him on her doorstep, attending this Christmas Party.

"Rouge. I'm really sorry that I didn't contact you. Life for me has been busy and…"

"And what? You didn't have time out of any of your days to talk to a friend even for as little as five minutes?" Rouge interrupted, her words slicing through the apology and excuse that the ebony hedgehog had just crafted.

"Well the life of a musician is busy. I just can't really sit down and communicate. I saw all your messages and I'm sorry that I was an ass and didn't message you. I shouldn't have done something like that to someone I would consider a good friend." Shadow hung his head low slightly in disappointment at himself, sure he traveled and spent a lot of time on the road and in studios, but that didn't mean he couldn't at least attempt at making contact with those he cared deeply about.

"Awh, don't get too soft on me now hun," Rouge teased as she playfully nudged him causing him to look up and see the soft smile rising on her lips. "I'm still a little mad at you but I can't be too angry because we've got a party to get back to."

"Oh yeah...do you think they'll be mad at me too?" Shadow asked, wondering if it was going to be him that would be roasting on an open fire on this night.

"I honestly don't know." Rouge giggled at the worry on Shadow's face. "I doubt it though, Knuckles is was having a little too much fun with the eggnog, Sonic is stuffing his face with some Christmas chilli dogs, and everyone else is just lounging around talking about what they've been up to till we start the ugly sweater contest."

"Ugly sweater contest?" Shadow questioned as Rouge pointed to the hideous sleeved thing that she had been wearing. Oh my god. How had he not noticed it before? It was an abomination, an atrocious and despicable looking thing that somehow passed as an attire. How was that even possible? Shadow's eyes were glued to its hideousness, he couldn't look away, it was indeed that horrid. Rouge couldn't contain the laughter that had been building up inside her as she started giggling madly at the look of horror plastered on Shadow's face at the sight of her sweater. She knew she was going to win for sure now!

"I have seen many things...but never in my life have I ever seen something this repulsive." Shadow spoke as he finally looked away from it and made eye contact with Rouge again. "It looks like you smeared blood and puke over a bear's hide and adorned it with Christmas themed patchworks." It was the only way that Shadow could describe Rouge's sweater to her and it only just made her laugh even more.

"Well you're going to participate too you know, because I get a sweater for you."

"Dear god...you monster. You didn't."  
"Oh yes I did."

"I won't wear it."  
"Oh yes you will."

After a couple minutes of playful bickering that went back and forth, a chilling wind started, causing the bat to shiver.

"Sheesh. How are you not cold?" Rouge asked the ebony hedgehog that now stood there with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face.

"It's not that bad. It's as cold as my soul." Shadow remarked.

"Ha ha ha." Rouge replied sarcastically, "Do you want to come inside or what?" She held the door open and stepped inside as the ebony hedgehog trailed behind her, stepping inside her home and realizing that now there was no turning back. He would be seeing people that he hadn't seen in awhile and that there was a good possibility that things were going to get awkward...very awkward. However, that was a risk he was willing to take because he was in the company of friends, and even if he wouldn't admit, he was glad to be back with them.

A/N: Sorry about the chapter being so short and vague, I wanted to introduce one of the key relationships of this story because it becomes integral to the story's plot as you will see later on. Future chapters will be longer so don't worry and I will try to update at least once a week so stay posted and hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. See you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey guys I'm back with another chapter, so something I wanted to mention is that it will be a slow build up here with these first couple of chapters but eventually it will lead to mayhem and some hilarious plot twists so just bare with me here. Hope you enjoy this latest addition to the story and let me know your thoughts in the reviews!

Chapter 2:

Friends, Intoxicated Hilarity, and the Face of an Angel

Shadow made his way to the foyer of Rouge's luxurious house and shut the door behind him. A glass chandelier dangled above their heads, red and green lights were wrapped around it like snakes casting a colorful glow down upon the two. Shadow took off his jacket and placed it on the coat rack beside the door. Rouge stared at him impatiently as he rubbed the bottom of his shoes off on the mat, snow littering the floor beneath him.

"So impatient." Shadow commented jokingly as Rouge took his shoes and threw them into the closet.

"C'mon, we can't keep the guests waiting." Rouge replied, ignoring Shadow's comment as she led him towards the living room, revealing a scene that made Shadow's eyes go wide. "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" was being played lightly in the background as Sonic, the famous and one and only blue blur, was stuffing his face profusely with chilli dogs by the second right by the Christmas tree. His hands were shoveling them one by one off of his plate and into his gaping mouth. His face was smeared with chilli and his sweater was stained with some spots of the aforementioned food. The ravenous blue hedgehog was being observed in horror by other attendants of the party, Tails, Amy, and Cream respectively, who were all sitting on the couch enjoying one another's company. They ignored him for a couple moments, trying to make simple conversation, but hearing the hungry hedgehog snacking loudly drove them all up the walls, Tails especially.

"Sonic! Are you ever going to stop eating you gluttonous hedgehog?!" Tails yelled out as Sonic ate the dogs like there was not going to be a tomorrow. Sonic paused for a moment, his mouth full of food and turned to look at his buddy with that trademark grin on his face.

"I'm just helping myself since I haven't had anything all day! You're more than welcome to help yourself!"

"You know that we aren't that big of fans of chilli dogs as you are." Amy said flatly as Sonic shrugged his shoulders and continued to fulfill his goal of satisfying his immense hunger.

"I know that Knuckles could go for a few chilli dogs though, I'll set them aside for him when he comes back." Sonic said as he moved a couple of the dogs on his stack to the side of his plate.

"Speaking of which, where is Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked lightly as the rest of the group looked around the room, he had just been there a moment ago. Where could he have possibly gone, they all wondered.

"Knuckles, ya bonehead? Where are ya?" Sonic called out as Tails, Amy, and Cream all got up to go and search for the red echidna.

"Not so fast you guys." Rouge interrupted, causing Sonic and them to turn and face her.

"What do you mean? Knuckles could be roaming anywhere around your house! You know how much of a drunken slob he can be!" Sonic exclaimed, as Shadow just stood there with a questioning look on his face. I might as well just be a ghost, the ebony hedgehog thought to himself.

"Knuckles is a big boy, he can handle himself." Rouge retorted as she made her way to the center of the room, leaving Shadow to linger in the doorway.

"Is nobody going to say anything to me?" Shadow spoke up, causing the group to turn and look at him in shock. It had been years since they had laid eyes upon Shadow, let alone talked about him. They all thought that he had fallen off the face of the Earth and that they were never going to hear from him ever again. He had proven them all wrong once more. It was as though time had stood still as silence had befallen the room and no one knew what to say, that is until a certain blue hedgehog decided to shatter it.

"Hey Shadow!" Sonic greeted as he rubbed the chilli from his face with the sleeve of his sweater. He gave a broad smile as Shadow went towards the couch and took a seat.

"I guess this is the part where I start missing the silence." Shadow said sourly as he winced at the sound of Sonic's cheerful voice, he was never going to hear the end of it now.

"Gee, what a sourpuss." Sonic teased as everyone laughed at Sonic's remark, hearing everyone's laughter caused Shadow to wince, he wasn't used to this kind of happy atmosphere.

"I'm not a sourpuss. I'm just not a fan of yours." Shadow muttered as Sonic raised another chilli dog to his face. "And could you stop eating those things! For the love of all that is holy you are grossing everyone the hell out!"

"Still the same ol' angsty, rage filled, edgelord of a hedgehog we all fell in love with. We missed you buddy." Sonic said before he began consuming yet another chilli dog, his words had infuriated the ebony hedgehog. That combined with the fact that this damned Christmas music was playing irritated his soul to no end, he was in for a long, long, night. He wanted to smash up the stereo system that played these awful jingles, since he couldn't do that however, he decided to do the next best thing, make fun of Sonic.

"I still see that you're an arrogant little nuisance who can't seem to know when to shut his mouth other than when he is stuffing himself with food. How pathetic." Shadow smirked at his comeback, chestnuts weren't the only thing that were getting roasted tonight. Rouge made her way between the two hedgehogs in an attempt to stop their verbal assault on one another. "That's enough! I didn't invite you all here to just bash on one another, you're all here to enjoy each other's company and to get reacquainted with familiar faces!" Rouge scolded as Sonic lowered his head in guilt.

"I apologize Rouge, I know this party means a lot to you. I'm sorry I started it." Sonic stated his apology as Shadow continued to glare daggers through him with those crimson orbs of his. Rouge nodded her head in acknowledgement as she turned to face Shadow.

"What about you, Shadow?" She asked, earning a sigh from the ebony hedgehog.

"I'm sorry….for not finishing it." Shadow bitterly spoke, earning a very pissed off look from the bat, he knew better than to push her buttons so Shadow quickly changed his demeanor for her sake. "Okay, I'm sorry." He mumbled, Rouge raised an eyebrow at him.

"Louder."

"I'm sorry." Shadow spoke a little louder, but not loud enough for everyone to hear as Rouge continued to wait for him to apologize.

"Do I have to get a freakin' megaphone for you to hear? Or maybe you just have to read my lips. I'm...sorry." Shadow spoke in a smartass tone, much to the dismay of Rouge, he needs a lot of work, she thought, but this will have to do for now. Sonic couldn't but laugh to himself at the stubbornness of Shadow, it was evident that he hadn't changed in all that time being gone. Seeing him being scolded like a child by Rouge just made his night, and he knew that there would be more to come, especially since the aforementioned bat cleared her throat and announced to the rest of them.

"Okay, now that everyone has apologized. How about we all get caught up with Shadow?"

"Do we have to?" Sonic groaned at the bat trying to instigate more conversation with the anti-social asshole that was Shadow. Rouge just raised a brow at Sonic who begrudgingly set down his plate of chilli dogs and joined the group as a family and sat around the couch where Shadow was. The room was met with silence once more as Shadow's eyes raced from one person to the next, his thoughts plagued with anxiety and dread at the questions that they would ask. What could they possibly want to know? He hadn't really done much other than what needed to be done to ensure his survival. He didn't have a girlfriend, he didn't have a house, he was a drifter, plain and simple. Shadow lived day by day wondering what events would transpire in a 24 hour time span. He didn't have time to make connections since he was always on the move, so what kind of questions would these people be capable of asking.

"Um, Mr. Shadow, how are you?" An innocent sounding voice asked, disturbing Shadow's thoughts and bringing him back to reality. Shadow looked to his right and saw Cream the rabbit peering up at him with her chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm fine, thanks." Shadow grunted, as Cream looked down all defeated and sad, she had tried and had been shot down instantly by the grumpy hedgehog.

"So, Shadow where do you live?" Tails asked, curious about Shadow's whereabouts.

"I live on the road most of the time, since I'm a musician." Shadow explained, earning admiring glances from the group.

"Do you play whiny, heart aching, teen anthems? Or are you in one those bands whose singer sounds like a fork stuck in the garbage disposal of a sink?" Sonic blurted out randomly, earning a piercing glare from Shadow.

"If you must know, we play alternative music and neither of those abominations that you speak of."

"What's the name of your band then?" Tails questioned.

"Escape from the City." Shadow stated as Sonic scratched his chin, deep in thought. It reminded him of something, he just couldn't put his gloved finger on it.

"Isn't that like a song or something?"

"I don't know." Shadow muttered, just then he heard someone's voice, a voice that he hadn't heard the entire time he was there, but one he would become very familiar with in time.

"What instrument do you play?" Amy asked, her emerald eyes gazing into his crimson orbs. For some reason, Shadow felt a lump form in his throat, he couldn't speak, he didn't know what was happening. The pink hedgehog before him had definitely changed since the last time he had laid eyes on her. She had become a stunning young woman, although the sweater she wore as absolutely atrocious (he overlooked that because that was a theme of the party), the rest of her was simply amazing. From her long legs, all the way up to her pink quills she was breathtaking, not to mention she smelled like cherries, and that smell was very inviting to Shadow.

"Um...Shadow?" Someone called out to him, it sounded so distant, as though he were in a tunnel.

"Shadow! You in there?" Another yelled, what was even going on?

"Hello?! Earth to Nimrod!" A hand suddenly waved itself in front of his eyes blocking his view of the precious rose before him. Suddenly, Shadow on instinct reached out and grabbed the wrist of the person who dared put their hand that close to anywhere near him.

"WHAT?!" Shadow bellowed, his fangs fully exposed and seething with rage.

"You okay? You zoned out on Amy when she asked you a question. You were looking at he as if she were a plate of Christmas cookies." Sonic explained, as he struggled to free himself from the ebony hedgehog's grasp. Shadow turned to look at all the party-goers, their eyes showed their fear at Shadow's explosiveness and when Shadow looked at Amy he saw that same fear in those innocent pools of green. He couldn't have that.

"Right, sorry." Shadow released his grip on the blue blur who rubbed his fur, in pain from Shadow's sudden outburst.

"Are we okay now?" Rouge asked Shadow, who just nodded his head. Shadow turned his attention once more to the pink hedgehog that sat to his left, he saw her look away from him and the ebony hedgehog felt his heart sink, he didn't know why, but it was what he felt.

"I think maybe the reason why everybody is fighting is because we are all hungry! Except you Sonic." Rouge said, obviously pointing out the starving blue hedgehog and earning a few laughs.

"I don't know, I think I can go for round two." Sonic rubbed his stomach and started making his way towards the dining room.

"You never cease to amaze me Sonic." Tails said as everyone stood up and began to follow Rouge when suddenly everyone heard a commotion coming from upstairs.

"COWABUNGA!" A voice screamed as everyone heard the sound of objects falling down and heavy thuds coming down the stairs next to where they stood. Amy jumped in fright, right into the arms of Shadow, who just looked at her questioningly. She blushed lightly and pulled herself away from him.

` "What was that?" Cream asked, scared out of her mind.

"KNUCKLES!" Rouge howled as she stomped towards the end of the stairs, where passed out on the floor, was none other than Knuckles the echidna.

"There's your answer." Sonic replied as they all moved as a pack to the front of the house where Rouge was having a fit at what Knuckles had done.

"You stupid, drunken, echidna! You tried to sled down my stairs?! Look at all the pictures and decorations you knocked down!" Rouge shrieked as he pointed to all the various objects that were taken down from Knuckles sled path down the stairs. If Rouge hadn't of been so mad, this would've been hilarious, but seeing as how one bad thing after another seemed to plague Rouge's night of having a fun party, she was just going bat-shit crazy.

"Woo...hooooooo." Knuckles cheered as he raised his head to look at everyone staring down at him. "Wassup *burp*...you guys?" He slurred as Rouge just shook her head in disapproval.

"What am I going to do with you guys?!" Rouge yelled, stomping her way towards the kitchen to prepare the feast for everyone's consumption. "Set up the table! We're eating shortly!" She barked before disappearing from everyone's sight.

"Why is she so mad?" Knuckles asked before passing out on the floor, using the sled as a pillow.

"Jesus, can eggnog really do that to you?" Amy poked at Knuckles' body that just laid there limp, saliva dripping out of his mouth slowly.

"Anything is possible with that guy, c'mon, let's go eat." Sonic said, motioning for everyone to follow him to the dining room.

"What are we going to do about Mr. Knuckles?" Cream wondered aloud, causing Sonic to stop for a moment.

"It's probably best if we leave him here, he will wake up in his own time, besides, Rouge kind of wants to tear his head off so let's just keep him here for his own good."

The blue blur led everyone to the dining room where they all took their seats and awaited for the arrival of food. During their wait, Shadow thought he saw Amy glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, with a slight blush on her face. Shadow smiled to himself, although he wasn't for sure of this, he hoped that she was looking his way. After sitting down and talking for what must have been ten minutes, the kitchen door suddenly busted open. Revealing Rouge holding a giant plate full of Christmas turkey.

"Dinner is served!"

A/N: Okay, so as you can see, this party is certainly getting interesting. Don't worry though, it gets even better. Expect an update next week because you don't want to miss the Christmas Dinner or The Secret Santa exchange! Leave me a review or PM me about what you think so far! I'd appreciate it. Till next time!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry guys for the late update, finals and the holidays crept up on me and so now that I have all of that out of the way I've made the decision to not only give this story the updates that it deserves but I'm also going to update the other stories of mine since I have sat down and mapped out what exactly I want to do to finish these stories. I'm a bit of a procrastinator and that combined with my busy schedule doesn't always allow for my updates to be reliable. I will try my best to update as soon as I can but once school starts back up it may be a little difficult but I promise to try my best. Now with all of that out of the way my hiatus as a writer is officially over. Here is the next chapter of "The Secret Santa" !

Chapter 3:

Ho Ho Ho Holy Conniption!

Everyone's mouths foamed in delight at the sight of Rouge delivering her plates of food from the kitchen to the dinner table. Shadow watched her seemingly endless trips back and forth as the food soon took up much of the table other than where everyone's dining ware and silverware was.

"This looks wonderful Ms. Rouge!" Cream complimented as everyone nodded their heads in agreement. The little rabbit had taken the words right out of everyone's mouths, it did indeed look wonderful and then some. Small talk filled the air of the dining room as everyone looked over the magnificent food that Rouge had prepared for this evening's dinner. The turkey was a nice golden brown and still steaming and the dishes of ham, prime rib, baked eggnog sweet potato, roasted apple salad, stuffing, cauliflower casserole, and many more were a sight to behold.

No one had better lay a finger on those. I want my first crack at those damn ribs. Shadow thought as he eyed the hefty pile of ribs on the dish to his right. The sauce slowly dripped down them, almost as if they were tears of sadness at the fact that they were soon going to be devoured by the carnivorous ebony hedgehog that hadn't broken eye contact with them since being placed on the table. After setting down the plate of green beans, Rouge finally took a seat at the head of the table and held out her hands for everyone to join hands and say grace. They all slowly but surely locked hands, Rouge grabbed Sonic's hand and Cream's hand, Sonic grabbed Tail's hand who in turn grabbed Shadow's hand and the ebony hedgehog grabbed Amy's hand who finally brought things full circle by grabbing Cream's hand. Shadow flinched at the contact of Amy's hand meeting his and a small blush crept up onto his cheeks as Amy giggled quietly to herself at Shadow's nervousness.

"Alright everyone, I want to take the time to thank everyone for joining us today. I know it isn't always easy for all of us to make it to these kinds of things but it is these moments that are oh so special to me and hopefully to all of you as well." Rouge thanked as she made eye contact with each and everyone of her guests, some of them reciprocated by looking and nodding at her or some individuals such as Sonic and Shadow couldn't stop eyeing the food that she had prepared.

Good to see that my cooking is appealing to the eye, but I hope they are listening to what I have to say. The bat thought to herself as she paused for a moment before speaking once more.

"Furthermore, I'd like to thank God for the friendship that each of us has had the chance to form throughout the years and I can't wait to experience more adventures and thrills with you guys in the years to come!" Everyone clapped their hands at Rouge's heartfelt words, who knew that the bat was so gracious and caring towards all of them? Just as the applause was dying down, a loud gurgling rumble noise was heard as everyone's heads slowly turned towards the source of the horrendous noise. Sonic grinned childishly and shrugged his shoulders as all eyes were upon him.

"Didn't you eat like several thousand chilli dogs not even a half hour ago?" Amy asked incredulously.

"Um yeah, it's called metabolism though." Sonic stated as if it were common knowledge, earning an eye roll from the pink hedgehog.

"He does have a point." Tails said, acknowledging his blue friend's words.

"How do you even feed yourself? Your whole food intake could count as a whole country's with your kind of appetite." Amy questioned, completely ignoring what Tails had to say.

"Wake me up, when this is all over." The fox said, putting his head down by his plate as though he were getting ready to take a nap.

"Easy, I get paid in food for all my heroic deeds." Sonic answered as he rubbed his hands greedily, eagerly wanting to get his gloved hands on the delectable looking food before him.

"Wait a minute, so you're telling me that people invest their faith of this planet in the hands of a hedgehog with an insatiable appetite? How pathetic." Shadow crossed his arms in irritation at the gluttony of the blue blur.

"Well at least people like me." Sonic mocked as he stuck his tongue out, earning a death glare from the ebony hedgehog.

"And here we go." Rouge muttered as she rested her face in her hands as she realized that this dinner was quickly going south. Shadow and Sonic are the epitome of the concept of when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Now that they had both gotten each other's skin, Rouge figured that there was no reason to intervene for it would only get worse.

"Ms. Rouge, do something." Cream nudged the bat, trying to get her to quickly put an end to this before it snowballed into something that could end disastrous, such as a Shakespearean play.

"There's no point." Rouge said, brushing off the rabbit's attempts at getting her to something. "Just let this run its course and everything will be okay." Rouge sighed as she couldn't even believe her own words, she watched as their bickering continued, much to her dismay as well as the dismay of a certain pink hedgehog who watched the two go back and forth their words as if their exchange were nothing more than a game of tennis.

"Oh people like me all right. I'm the ultimate lifeform! How can people not like that?" Shadow gloated as Sonic gave him a questioning look.

"Dude, your game sucked. I mean seriously...aliens? That's soooooo 1999."

"At least mine at least had a story that is light years ahead of the shitty, redundant, obsolete, mindfuck of a plot you had in Sonic '06!" Shadow seethed as he slammed his fists on the table, Sonic stood up from his seat and angrily pointed his finger at the ebony hedgehog, whose blood red eyes glowed with a fiery rage.

"Oh yeah? Well I've had more games than you."

"Quality over quantity."

"I've saved the world more times than you can count."

"You needed our help more often than not, you blue idiot."

"At least my game doesn't look like it was made by someone's edgy younger brother who had a hard on for guns."

"You gotta do what you gotta do to save the world." Shadow smirked as he saw Sonic was losing steam, he was going to win this bout and then Sonic would learn to leave him alone with his childish pestering. Man he was so good at this game.

"My fans are better than yours." Shadow said, poking at Sonic's ego.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic questioned as he got up and stood nose to nose with the ebony hedgehog.

"Yeah." Shadow retorted as the two looked like they were about to erupt into an all out brawl.

"That's it! Holy conniption! I can't take this testosterone fueled bigotry no longer! Sonic and Shadow knock it off this instant before I decide to bust out my hammer and play Whac-A-Mole with both of your asses!" Amy exploded as she breathed heavily after practically screaming her lungs out. The whole dinner table fell into silence as everyone stared at her. She blushed at everyone looking at her, she's always had a short fuse but she was surprised she suppressed her anger for this long while watching the two hedgehogs' idiotic banter from the sidelines.

"Sheesh Ames, alright! We'll knock it off." Sonic said irritated that just as he was closing in on certain victory he was so rudely interrupted.

"Yeah we'll knock it off." Shadow chimed in, an evil smile growing on his face at Sonic's loss. The blue blur sighed, you just can't win them all I guess, he defeatedly thought as he made his way back to his seat at the table.

"Faker." Shadow mumbled underneath his breath as he too took his seat at the table, eagerly awaiting to eat and celebrate his latest victory. Rouge looked back and forth at the too, hoping that another can of worms wasn't about to open any time soon between the two and pointed to Sonic to nudge Tails awake.

"I WILL SEND YOU TO THE SEVENTH CIRCLE OF HELL IF YOU TOUCH MY CHEMISTRY HOMEWORK AGAIN!" Tails suddenly screamed out, causing everyone to jump in their seats at the increased volume that once again filled the room.

"Sorry." Tails apologized as he laughed nervously. "I guess I fell asleep."

"Yeah, I don't think we want to know what you were dreaming about any time soon little man." Sonic said as he began putting his napkin in his lap as everyone else followed suit.

"Amen to that." Amy muttered underneath her breath. So far tonight this party has been one crazy event after another and it was starting to irritate the pink hedgehog.

I can only imagine what Rouge must be feeling, she must feel like she is running a damn circus with all the stuff that has taken place tonight, she thought as she gently placed the napkin down in her lap.

"Now that all of this stuff is behind us, let's dig in!" Rouge declared as everyone started to make a mad dash for the desired food they wanted until the doorbell rang. Everyone froze in place as Rouge looked as though her head was about to pop. It was so red she looked like a lobster and the veins pulsating in her temple were clearly visible as she angrily began stomping towards the door like a war machine on a mission.

"WHO IN THE NAME OF ROBOTNIK'S MUSTACHE IS RINGING MY DOORBELL WHEN WE ARE JUST STARTING TO EAT!" Rouge screeched as she gripped the door knob tightly and swung it open with all her might revealing an unlikely trio standing at the door, gaping in fear at the rage consumed bat standing before them.

"Um...is this a bad time?" Espio asked, slightly fearing for his life as the bat glared at him with a maniacal look in her eyes. Her fists were clenched and her teeth were gritted tightly as she slowly started to grasp just what was going on. With the sudden realization that she had acquired more guests for her party she quickly began reorganizing herself to look more presentable.

"Oh my Chaos! I'm so sorry about that. No, no, no, I've just had one hell of an evening so far. You know how Christmas parties are." Rouge apologized as she gave each one of the members of the Chaotix a friendly hug.

"It's alright, we were just really concerned and scared for a moment." Vector chuckled in honesty as Charmy looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"Y-y-y-y-y-you were sooooooo scary." Charmy stammered as the bat laughed at the bee's terrified expression.

"I'm only on scary on days that end in y." Rouge joked as Charmy jumped in fright.

"That's like everyday! YIKES!" The bee began flying around in circles at breakneck speed as both Espio and Vector rolled their eyes at the bee's goofiness.

"Knock it off Charmy!" Vector yelled as he grabbed ahold of Charmy's horrific looking christmas sweater.

"So what's up guys? I thought you guys weren't coming. I called and messaged you guys like a million times." Rouge wondered why they hadn't responded back, she figured that they were out on business but she wasn't entirely too sure. You can never be sure with those three.

"Sorry about that Rouge, we were in the middle of work and it ran a little bit longer than expected." Vector informed, confirming Rouge's suspicions.

"Yeah, work is work you know!" Charmy beamed with a cheerful smile on his face. Espio gave a acknowledging hmph as he looked at Rouge.

"So are you guys hungry? We were just about to eat before you guys showed up." Rouge asked as they all declared their answer which was an obvious yes.

"Alright, well don't be shy. Follow me, there's plenty of food to go around." She invited them with a wave, and the Chaotix followed Rouge inside the house and to the dining room where everyone was sitting wondering just who it was that fell victim to the bat's killing spree.

"So what do you think Rouge killed whoever was at the door with?" Sonic asked jokingly.

"What is this? A game of Clue? I'm sure that whoever it is it's someone important if she has been at the door for this long." Tails replied as the sudden approach of footsteps put an end to the conversation and all eyes were upon Rouge and the guests behind her.

"Hey what's up Chaotix?!" Sonic greeted as Rouge and the Chaotix all shuffled into the dining room and began making small talk with everyone at the table, except Shadow because he just didn't want to really associate with anyone at the current moment since he was in a sour mood. Rouge left for a brief moment to go and grab some chairs for her additional guests and returned with three chairs that she placed around the table, one next to Tails, the other next to Shadow, and one right next to Cream. The Chaotix took their seats quickly as they all took notice of the enticing food at the dinner table. Vector sat next to Tails, Espio sat next to Cream, and much to the dismay of a certain ebony hedgehog, Charmy was placed next to him.

"Whoever is writing this story and decided to be a dick and place this brainless bee next to me then I've got a little something for you." Shadow raised his middle finger just underneath the dinner table so that his message got across.

"Put that in your stocking." Shadow angrily mumbled. Just as he put his finger down, Charmy looked over with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Are you talking to yourself?"

"No I'm talking to an OC from a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction, of course I'm talking to myself." Shadow sarcastically spat at the bee next to him. Charmy was going to say something but was interrupted by the ebony hedgehog.

"Don't you dare say it's not normal, for if you do I will do a reenactment of that scene in the church from Kingsman." Charmy didn't like the sound of that so he quickly shut down whatever it was that he was going to say and turned his attention to the food that his stomach so desperately yearned for.

"Okay everyone. Now with all further disruptions all out of the way let's dig in!" Rouge declared once more, just as everyone got everything they wanted to on the plate, the doorbell rang again. The sound resonated throughout the whole household and time seemed to stand still as the bat slowly got up from her table and began to make her way to the door.

"CHAOS! I JUST WANT TO EAT! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CALORIES OR CARBS FOR ONCE I JUST WANT TO EAT AND ENJOY MYSELF WITH MY FRIENDS AND HAVE A HOT MEAL BUT I CAN'T DO THAT IF THE DAMN DOORBELL KEEPS RINGING!" Rouge screamed, causing everyone at the table to wince and cover their ears. What a lovely party this was turning out to be. The bat weaved a tapestry of incoherent obscenities and ramblings that could only be defined as uncontrollable fury and a state of increased vexation. After screaming every possible curse word in the human language and from urban dictionary, she finally turned the door knob and swung the door open to see Blaze the Cat and Silver the Hedgehog boths standing there with their jaws open. Their ears couldn't believe what they just heard and both didn't know what to make of the situation.

"Gee, wrong address. Time to dip!" Silver nervously turned to run but Blaze gripped his shoulder tightly, preventing him from going anywhere.

"What are you doing?! This bat lady is insane!" Silver questioned the sanity of his partner as Rouge crossed her arms, giving Silver an annoyed glare.

"And she is also right here." Rouge had calmed down significantly but she didn't know if her heart could take another interruption like that. If anymore guests arrived at the door she might just lose herself completely.

"How come you didn't answer my messages? I thought you guys weren't coming." Rouge asked, her arms folded tightly to give her some warmth from the intensity of the cold outside.

"We were-." Silver began before Rouge interrupted.

"Let me guess late from work?" Rouge said sourly, earning a nod from both Blaze and Silver.

"Yes, how did-." Blaze started before Rouge cut her off.

"I had a feeling. Now come inside and let's eat." Rouge held the door open as Silver and Blaze both took off their shoes and walked inside towards the dining room.

"Man I need to eat otherwise I might turn into the Hulk." Rouge muttered to herself as Silver gave Blaze an unsure look.

"I'm having second thoughts on this." Silver told his companion, sharing his feelings on the situation at hand.

"Suck it up, please. Rouge is a good friend, I'm sure she's just having a stressful night." Little did Blaze know that she had hit the hammer on the nail with that statement.

"Okay, if she kills us, I blame you." Silver said, earning an eye roll from Blaze as they finally arrived to the dining room.

A/N: And there you have it! Another chapter done! I decided to split the dinner scene in half since I got a little carried away with it. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts on it and let me know what you think so far of the story! I'll try to update as soon as I can. Next chapter! See the conclusion of this hellacious dinner and the moment that we have all been waiting for…. the Secret Santa exchange!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Alright so before I begin with what I have to say I just want to take the time to thank everyone who has taken the time to read what I have to offer. I thought I had lost my craft and had become rusty with my writing but you guys proved me wrong and now I'm back on my horse and ready to start anew. So I guess that brings me to my schedule and how things are going to work. I know I haven't exactly been the most reliable as I have mentioned before with updating but since this is the new year and I want to start things off by putting my best foot forward, I've decided that each week I will pick a story of mine and I will update it twice a week every week. Now with school and everything that is subject to change but for the time being that is how it will work. So new stories as well as some of my older works will be getting an update. Don't worry! If a story of mine isn't getting updated as often as you would like just let me know and I'll see what I can do. Anyways, here is another chapter of The Secret Santa for everyone!

Chapter 4:

Gotta Open Your Mouth Duuuuude!

"Hey Silver! Hey Blaze! How are you guys doing?" Amy asked, excited to see some of her closest friends once more after so long.

"Yeah! Long time no see!" Sonic chimed in enthusiastically, causing Shadow to just glare angrily at the blue hedgehog. Shadow hated those four words, it was the equivalent to a Vietnam flashback for him with the horrible memories it brought back of Westopolis. Shadow's blood was boiling but he held a stoic expression on his face as the greetings continued to unfold in front of him. He would crush that blue hedgehog underneath his shoes someday, but today was not that day sadly. For now he would swallow his pride as the ultimate life form, and have a nice Christmas dinner surrounded by people that he called his friends.

"Hey Shadow, it's been since high school since I've seen you!" Silver said as Rouge had returned from getting seats for the two additional guests that were joining them for dinner.

"Hmph. Yeah, I guess so." Shadow shrugged, not really caring all that much about conversing with the white hedgehog. It's not that he was a bad guy or anything, it was just Shadow thought he was incredibly annoying. He would rather drink bleach than having a conversation with him. Thankfully, Silver took the hint as well as Blaze and they decided to chat with other attendants at the table after they had taken their seats on both sides of Rouge After a couple minutes though, Rouge raised a glass and tapped on it with a spoon a few times to signal for silence. After gaining everyone's attention, she smiled and paused for slight dramatic effect before exclaiming.

"Alright, now that we are all here. We can now finally, without a doubt, without any more interruptions, eat this dinner!" Without hesitation, everyone began passing around the dishes and helping themselves to the mouth watering food placed around the table. Like Shadow had wanted, he had first crack at the ribs, but not without threatening to use deadly force Liam Neeson style against Charmy who practically peed himself before handing the plate over. After everyone's plate was full everyone began to eat and it wasn't long before small talk spread around the table like a contagious virus.

"Quick Question, where's that echidna Knuckles at? He's usually at these sort of things." Blaze asked, acknowledging the presence of one of their friends missing. Everyone laughed hysterically at the mention of Knuckles as the Chaotix, Silver, and Blaze just looked on confused as to what was so funny.

"Knuckles found the alcoholic Eggnog in the fridge and let's just say he went a little overboard with his drinking." Sonic explained in between fits of laughter.

"I don't think he'll be coming back down for the rest of the night." Amy said as everyone just laughed at the poor drunken echidna that rested upstairs somewhere probably having the worst migraine of this millenium.

"Yeah! He came flying down the stairs on a sled and knocked everything over! Rouge was so mad, her face was priceless!" Tails mimicked Rouge's face much to the delight of everyone at the table who got a good laugh out of it.

"That was definitely not how my face looked!" Rouge denied and crossed her arms like she was pouting.

"I have to agree with Mr. Sonic and Mr. Tails on this one. That was most definitely your facial expression." Cream replied, earning an eye roll from the bat who quickly thought of a way to change the topic.

"Well Chaotix, how is your detective agency going? You guys were late because of it, so some interesting things must be going on with your work." Rouge pondered as Vector wiped the juice from the ribs off of his hands and finished chewing his food before speaking.

"It's terrific Rouge! We've been getting a lot of business and the pay has been phenomenal. So much so that we may be able to upgrade our building and be able to hire more people to help us out."

"That's fantastic you guys!" Amy cheered as everyone around the table congratulated the team for their success.

"Thanks! I couldn't have done it without these guys though!" Vector pointed to Espio and Charmy as he spoke, earning smiles from the both of them.

"Yewer te bes Vectah!" Charmy shouted with his mouth full, barely able to keep all of the food in as Espio facepalmed at the bee's childish antics.

"Agreed." Espio stated quietly, as everyone laughed at the little moment that the Chaotix had.

"I can only imagine what it's like in the workplace for you guys. Speaking of which, how have you two lovebirds been doing?" Amy asked, genuinely curious as to how the two have been handling themselves, not having seen them in over a year now.

"Pretty great honestly, we've been doing some telemarketing in real estate now and we have been able to make a decent living for ourselves." Blaze answered as Sonic sighed in boredom.

"Sheesh, sounds dull as hell. Phone sex between the two of you is about as appealing as a blind man reading the collective works of Dr. Seuss." Tails smacked Sonic upside the head as Blaze's face turned as red as a tomato at the joke Sonic cracked.

"That was extremely rude you know!" Tails reprimanded, as Sonic rubbed the back of his head in annoyance.

"I was just stating the truth."

"Yeah that was very rude and I will not stand for this!" Silver declared as he went to stand up from his seat only to have a look casted at him from Blaze that told him otherwise.

"I know you want to be tough and all, but seriously pick your battles wisely." Sonic uttered before biting into another piece of his turkey, his words causing Silver to become increasingly agitated.

"I don't like your attitude."

"Like I said before, I'm only stating the truth. I know I could take you down, and also Shadow practically Pele kicked your head off." Sonic boasted as he directed this conversation now onto Shadow. Why does everything seem to find its way back to him?

"That was a one time thing! He could probably never land another one on me!" Silver whined as Blaze pleaded with him to stop.

"I beg to differ." Shadow spoke with a dark edge in his voice, causing Silver to sweat in slight fear.

"I love a free show!" Charmy screamed in excitement as Vector hollered at him to shut up.

"Where is Morgan Freeman ex machina when you need it?" Silver implored as his eyes casted to the heavens in the hopes that his prayers would be answered.

"Okay everyone! That's enough!" Rouge intervened as she tried to get the dinner back to the way it was before Sonic opened his mouth. Silence fell upon the dining room once more as everyone focused on their plates of food once more. After a few minutes of everyone being afraid to make the first move at having conversation, Amy bravely spoke up.

"So..uh, Shadow...hehe. I know you told some of us earlier, but how has life been treating you since high school?" Shadow glanced up from his plate at her question that was directed at him and his crimson eyes made contact with her twinkling, emerald green ones. The ebony hedgehog could feel all eyes upon him as he pondered his words carefully. He wasn't trying to be secretive or anything, there was just a lot of things to explain since they weren't exactly there in past years. He could feel a blush forming on his cheeks as he realized that he had done nothing but stare at Amy the entire time he was thinking. He broke eye contact with her and acted like he was cutting up another portion of food to eat.

"Life has been treating me well. You all know I was in a band in high school, but after school we just kind of drifted apart and went our own separate ways. I had my connections and I've been in and out of various studios around the country playing with various groups and going out on the road and playing concerts. Right now I'm currently playing guitar for Escape From the City, an alternative rock group from Indiana. It's pretty nice, just haven't had a lot of time to myself to really talk or visit any of you guys." Shadow explained as everyone told him how cool it was that he was in a band and that he had helped record some songs with some groups.

"That's really neat Shadow." Amy remarked as she casted a warm smile towards the ebony hedgehog.

"Th-Th-Thanks." Shadow stammered as Amy went back to eating some of the green beans on her plate. His stammer did not go unnoticed as Rouge took note of what she had just witnessed. "The real world has been a lot of fun, it's a completely different animal from those days in high school."

"Yeah, you really have changed since then. I remember you wearing the leather jacket and shades like you were the Terminator. Then at battle of the bands one year you painted your face up and you looked like Pennywise and Gene Simmons had a baby together." Sonic blurted out, earning laughter from everyone at the table except Amy who just looked at Shadow and felt bad for him. She remembered those high school days very well. He wasn't always the most well liked person and because of his attitude and his lone wolf nature, he didn't that many close relationships with people. He kept people at a distance, and even as one of the popular girls in high school, Amy could still see that. Even now he still seems like he has those kinds of trust issues but he also seems like he has matured enough to at least try and make an effort at letting people in a little more.

"It was a phase…" Shadow began, his face red with embarrassment as Sonic poked fun at those dreadful high school years of his and continued to do so, interrupting him more.

"Remember that nickname they gave him? Shadow the Edgehog? It was pretty great."

"Mr. Sonic, I think you should leave him alone." Cream spoke up, defending the ebony hedgehog who had fallen quiet and waited for the storm that was Sonic's words to pass.

"Seriously Sonic, this is probably why he hasn't wanted to do anything with us for years now because of you being such a self-absorbed jerk." Amy's words really struck a chord with Sonic who quickly ceased his antagonization of Shadow.

"Look Amy, I'm sorry." Sonic apologized as he turned to look at Shadow again and apologized to the ebony hedgehog who only grunted in response.

"It's okay Sonic, just learn to be a little nicer will ya? You might get coal in your stocking if you don't learn to play nice." Amy joked and everyone laughed lightly, the situation for now defused.

"Well maybe I don't want to learn how to play nice." Sonic flirted as he gave wink to the pink hedgehog, whose heart fluttered and her face turned a crimson shade. Everyone at the table immediately in unison groaned at what the blue blur said.

"Seriously? At the dinner table?" Rouge scolded Sonic's flirting, earning a chuckle from Shadow.

"What? I'm just saying." Sonic continued to eat as Vector took his turn to scold Sonic for his flirting actions.

"We have younger ones at the table though for Chaos sake!"

"So? Charmy will eventually learn, they have the discovery channel stuff where animals have sex with each other and what not, so...live and learn." Sonic ate his turkey as Vector turned to look at Charmy who was giggling at the sight of the giant crocodile arguing with the blue hedgehog.

"Isn't sex where the penis enters the…?" Charmy began before Vector leapt from his seat to tackle the bee, interrupting him before he could continue any further.

"Yes, yes, yes it is! Now stop talking for the sake of everyone here!" Vector yelled as the bee squirmed underneath him trying to get free. Rouge facepalmed, this was really turning out to be something. After a couple moments of them fighting, Vector and Charmy got back into their seats, the talk of sex no longer present at the dinner table.

"So Amy, what exactly do you do now?" Shadow questioned, breaking the silence.

"Well for right now, I'm a freelance photographer but I want to open my own flower store. It's always been something that I've wanted to do." Amy shared as Shadow faintly smiled at her.

"That's nice. Well good for you. Hopefully you are able to accomplish that someday." Amy thanked him and delivered another smile that Shadow could've sworn melted the icy exterior of his heart just a little. Rouge also took note of Shadow's interaction with Amy right there, just what the heck was going on with him when he would talk to her?

"Now as much as I regret asking this, I guess I'll have to since we are familiar with everyone else here. What do you do Sonic?" Shadow asked, turning his attention away quickly from the pink hedgehog to the arrogant blue one.

"I'm an Uber driver. I drive people around from point A to point B and I get good money. They usually tip me pretty well since I'm so fast." Sonic boasted as Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Fascinating." The ebony hedgehog said sarcastically as his eyes drifted over to Tails. "What do you do Tails? I'm sure someone like you does something intriguing." Tails scratched his head nervously at Shadow's question, he was just naturally a shy and nervous person and it didn't help whenever everyone looked to him, it only amplified his nervous tendencies.

"I'm just a mechanic is all. I fix a lot of different things like cars and planes and whatnot so it's something that I like to do but it also allows me to make good money as well." Tails explained.

"Cool. Sounds like that would be a lot of fun for someone like you who likes to tinker with things." Shadow remarked as he finished up all of what was left on his plate. After about another half an hour of everyone conversing with one another about nothing in particular, the room fell quiet as everyone leaned back in their chairs, their bellies full of food.

"I'm so full…." Charmy groaned as he lay lopsided in his chair just like everyone else.

"I concur." Amy agreed as she pushed her plate forward and away from her, not wanting to have a look at any more food. No one wanted to move, everyone wanted to stay in place and hibernate, but Rouge wouldn't have any of that. She grabbed her glass and tapped on it with the spoon next to her.

"Okay! Now that dinner is finished, I need all of you to go into the living room where we will have the Secret Santa name drawing and then we will have the ugly sweater contest!" Everyone cheered as they all made their way out of the room albeit sluggishly but nonetheless they were leaving the room. Rouge quickly remembered she wanted to talk to Shadow and before the ebony hedgehog could leave she hurried up to him and pulled him aside.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shadow asked annoyed.

"You and I are going to have a chat while we do these dishes." Rouge informed as she started grabbing some of the plates around the dinner table. Shadow knew that he really didn't have a choice in the matter and with a sigh he too began helping Rouge carry the dinner plates from the dining room into the kitchen. Rouge turned the on the water to where the temperature was scalding hot and she and Shadow put their dishes in the hot water while she added some dish soap for them to soak in. After a moment, she turned the faucet off and grabbed a brush and started scrubbing the remaining food off of the plates. Shadow waited for what seemed like an eternity, Rouge finally spoke.

"Shadow, I know you like Amy." The words caught Shadow completely off guard, this is what she had pulled him in here for? An assumption that he liked a girl that he hadn't seen in years. The very thought of this notion was preposterous.

"Rouge don't be ridiculous. I haven't seen her or anybody else today in years. There's nothing there for her or for anybody else." Shadow said, hoping to snuff out whatever it was that Rouge was concocting,

"Oh really? I saw how you interacted with her, your stammering and you blushing doesn't add up to what you just said." Shadow just scoffed at her words and was getting ready to leave when the bat just kept rambling on.

"Shadow I know that you are just trying to play the tough guy but it's okay to just confide in me about something like this. Amy is a pretty girl and it's understandable for someone to have feelings such as the ones that you have for her."

"Well girls like her wouldn't ever go for someone like me." Shadow hung his head low at his own admittance to not only liking her, but also how he perceived himself. Rouge was the only one who could break down that wall that Shadow put up to block everyone out and when she did she was able to do something that most people could only ever dream of with Shadow, and that was reasoning with him.

"Sure she would, you just need to keep your head up high!" The bat said in the hopes to raise the ebony hedgehog's spirits. "You just need to fix your doom and gloom attitude and work on your hot headedness and I'm sure you would be the stud that could sweep Amy Rose off her feet!"

"I'm not exactly what you would call dating material." Shadow stated flatly, much to the annoyance of Rouge, he's so stubborn, she thought as she continued scrubbing the dishes.

"You just need to try, I'm sure with some encouragement and work you'll be able to successfully acquire a date with the lovely rose." Rouge spoke as she desperately scrubbed at the one piece food that did not want to come off the damn plate for whatever the reason.

"You gotta open your mouth and you will see that when you ask that it is a lot easier than you would expect." Rouge said, hoping her words would be enough to put Shadow at ease and allow him to be more open minded about the whole thing. She thought Amy would be good for Shadow but in order to make this work, both parties would need to get on board with it. Shadow would fight tooth and nail she knew this for a fact but if she could get him to agree to this then setting the rest up would be a breeze. Playing matchmaker was really a bitch sometimes.

"I guess, I don't know. I'm going to go to the living room and see what everyone else is up to." Shadow walked towards the door and without a second thought left the bat to continue her dishes and dwell on her thoughts, signaling that this was in fact the end of the conversation. Rouge sighed as she continued to clean and rinse off the dishes before putting them away. He is just too stubborn for his own good! I wish there was a way to where I could play matchmaker but at the same time not get involved so that Shadow can figure things out on his own. The bat continued to think and ponder as the pile of dishes slowly but surely started to dwindle down until there were only a couple more left. As she began to start working on the last of the dishes, a lightbulb suddenly went off in her head. She had gotten an idea, an awful idea, Rouge the bat got a wonderful, awful, idea. Her face twisted up into a smile resembling that of the Grinch when he got the idea to steal Christmas from the Who's down in Whoville.

"I know just what to do." Rouge said, talking to herself aloud as she made a mad dash upstairs, her attempts at playing matchmaker weren't going to futile after all.

"Look who finally decided to show up! Were you waiting for Chinese New Year or something?" Sonic shouted at Rouge who had just now reappeared after an hour's absence from her own party.

"Well excuse me! I had to do all the dishes from dinner and I was getting everything ready for the Secret Santa name drawing!" Rouge screeched, clutching the top hat in her hands tightly as Sonic shrugged it off and went to go talk to Tails about something. Everyone was deep in their own conversations talking about whatever it was that they were talking about until Rouge gave a loud whistle to signal everyone's attention towards the fireplace where she was standing.

"Alright listen up everyone! We will begin the Secret Santa name drawing right now! I will call you all up individually and you will all draw your name out of the hat!" She held up the top hat high up for everyone to see. "Afterwards, you will sit down and wait until everyone is done drawing a name, don't share your name with anyone, it will ruin the surprise. Then we will have the ugly sweater contest that everyone has been dying to participate in!" Rouge finished her explanation and everybody cheered, excited that the festivities were about to be taking place finally.

"First up, Blaze!" Rouge called out and the purple cat made her way up towards Rouge. She reached into the hat and pulled out a tiny slip of paper before making her way back to Silver and sitting down.

"Who'd you get?" The white hedgehog asked, eagerly wanting to know who Blaze had chosen.

"Did you not just here her you buffoon! I can't tell you!" Blaze said smacking the hand that tried to grab the piece of paper from her. Rouge chuckled at the couple's little exchange and called up the next person.

"Vector!" It went on and on like this for about fifteen minutes up until only two remained to be called on.

"Sonic!" Within a second the blue blur with a burst of speed had dashed up to where Rouge was standing and back down in his spot next to Tails with a folded piece of paper in his hands. He peeked at the name Amy written on the paper and gave a beaming smile.

"Woohoo!" He cheered as he clutched the small piece of paper in his hands. He must be on cloud nine judging by who he picked, I can't even believe I'm doing this, I hope I get someone I can actually work with here, Shadow thought nervously as he waited the impending doom that was his name being the last one called up.

"Shadow!" Rouge called as the ebony hedgehog grudgingly made his way up to where the bat stood, the top hat extended out towards him. Shadow felt like that fat, unpopular kid that was always the last one picked for any kind of sport in P.E., he didn't like this situation. It felt very alien to him and he felt rather precarious as he reluctantly placed his hand inside the hat and grabbed the last piece of paper within. Rouge had a slight smirk on his face which left him feeling a little unsettled, whenever she has that kind of look on her face it can only signify trouble. What is she so happy about? Shadow questioned as he walked back towards his spot in the corner of the room next to the Christmas tree.

"Alright everyone! I'll go and get Shadow's sweater and then we can all start the contest!" Rouge declared as she set the top hat aside and made her way towards the stairs. As she was making her way upstairs, she stopped to watch Shadow who looked to be deep in thought about the paper he held in his hand. He was curious as to what fate had planned for him on this piece of paper but at the same time he remembered the old saying, curiosity killed the cat. Oh what the hell, he thought as he unfolded it and to his astonishment the one name he didn't want to see (other than Charmy's) was on it.

"Oh hell no…" Shadow whispered to himself as he blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing shit. There it was, in spidery writing was the name Amy. It was at that moment that the ebony hedgehog could feel someone watching him, he turned to see everyone in the living room talking and boasting about how they were surely going to win the contest but soon his eyes found Rouge staring at him from the stairs. His blood boiled as he realized that she had pulled off her plan, he had been set up in the form of a Secret Santa and there was no way out.

"I hate you." He mouthed as Rouge just laughed and went up the stairs towards her room, excited that her plan had actually worked.

"Now it's time to just lean back and watch what happens." Rouge happily told herself as she grabbed the sweater from her closet and made her way out of her room and back downstairs.

A/N: And that does it for this chapter! It was a little longer than most chapters that I write but I had a blast doing this one. Sorry that I'm not very doing a lot of character and setting descriptions, I think I'm pretty bad at them but I'm working on it, I'd just rather you picture everything for yourselves and how you perceive what they wear and whatnot. I tried to give some background information on the characters here but don't worry if there wasn't enough here there is more to come in future chapters. Hopefully what I wrote lived up to expectations. Let me know what you guys think and I'll see you guys next time I update!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys! I couldn't stop writing over the past couple of days and so I figured that I will spoil all of you with yet another chapter of my story. Thank you so much for all your kind words in your reviews and I can't believe that I'm only this far in and I've garnered over 500 views! Thanks a lot everyone, I really do appreciate it. This chapter is a little dark but as always it finds a way to be lighthearted. Well I won't keep you guys for too long since I know that if you've made it this far into the story you'll want to know what happens next, so without further ado here is chapter five of The Secret Santa!

Chapter 5:

And All Was Silent Throughout the House...Except for Two in the Kitchen

Rouge raced down the stairs, a look of delight plastered on her face as she gripped the repulsive Christmas sweater for Shadow in her hands. I did it, I can't believe it actually worked! Rouge repeated over and over again as she closed the distance between her and the party downstairs. She could see everyone was talking amongst themselves as she approached the living room, eagerly awaiting the start of the ugly Christmas sweater contest. As she was within mere inches of entering, a black figure quickly rushed her and grabbed her by the wrist. The bat yelped in fright as she felt herself being dragged towards the kitchen at a blitzkrieg pace.

"Shadow! What are you-." She began, before two crimson orbs glared at her with a hellfire's rage radiating within them, instantly shutting her up. He slammed open the kitchen door with a loud WHAM, and let go of Rouge's wrist. She rubbed it in pain as the ebony hedgehog grabbed a chair from the dinner table and leaned it right underneath the door knob, preventing any interruptions and unwanted people from barging in on what he had to say to the bat.

"Just what the hell was that?!" Shadow spat furiously, causing Rouge to back away slightly in fear.

"Shadow just let me explain…" Rouge tried calming the very irate hedgehog down, but her words were all in vain as Shadow continued to spew what was on his mind.

"No! I don't want to hear it! You went behind my back to set me up with some girl I don't even have a chance with!" All Rouge could do was just stand there and listen to his words and hope to God that nobody was outside of the door listening into this conversation, which she doubted but nevertheless Knuckles was probably dying from having this much noise right below him.

"I mean look at me and then look at her, we are the exact definition of polar opposites. Besides, she deserves someone better than a bitter, lone wolf like me." Shadow admitted as he soon found himself calming down. The ebony hedgehog fell silent for a few moments as he took some deep breaths. The more and more he thought about things, Shadow began to realize the gravity of the situation he was in. He was way in over his head with this, he didn't even know the first thing about her other than what was shared at dinner this evening, and now Rouge was expecting him to try and get to know her over a secret santa gift exchange? What kind of crap was she on when she devised this scheme? Shadow questioned internally as he hung his head slightly and crossed his arms in a defiant pout.

"Shadow, you know that isn't true." Rouge said as she embraced the hedgehog in a hug in order to lift his spirits. His arms dangled there as Rouge just held him there in the middle of the kitchen. He had such a defeated look on his face and it broke Rouge's heart to see one of her greatest friends like this. Sure he was right, he was a lone wolf by nature and he was filled with a lot of pent up anger and resentment towards himself and others, but at the same time, he was very much wrong. The bat had seen signs of goodness in him, it was rare, but it was still there all the same. She knew that deep down in his heart that he could care for another person and that he was gentle and sweet. That's why it was a motivating factor in her doing what she did, and that was to find a way to bring that side of him out into the open for everyone to see.

"Yes it is. I'm sure of it." He responded as as Rouge continued to hold onto him.

"Listen to me." She commanded as she brought his head up so that he could look her in the eyes. The anger that she had seen before that her so fearful had now been replaced with uncertainty and doubt. Shadow's mood swings certainly gave hers a run for her money, but in this situation she could tell that he was confused and didn't know exactly how to perceive things. She was his rock and she could tell that he needed her more than ever.

"You just have different qualities that make you who you are. It may seem troublesome that you can't be like everyone else but that's the best part about it. You are your own unique person. You just have to learn to channel your fear into confidence. I can help you." Rouge offered as the ebony hedgehog lightly pushed her off of him. He turned his back to her and once more crossed his arms across his chest, a frown deepened on his face as he just closed his eyes.

"Why should I want your help? I didn't ask for this." Shadow replied gruffly as Rouge walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"There's more to this than meets the eye Shadow."

"Seriously? Transformers?" He opened his eyes to give her an irritated look before closing them once more to brood in his thoughts.

"All movie references aside Shadow, it's true. I did this to help break you out of your shell." There it was, the truth was out, and now Shadow was made aware of her true intentions. The room fell silent for a couple of minutes as Shadow processed her admittance as to what truly motivated her to commit the deed. Rouge took her hand off Shadow's shoulder and just stared at the stoic expression on his face. She was afraid of what his response was, or if she even got a response at all. Both possibilities had an equal chance of happening, she was just hoping that Shadow would come to terms and understand her and see things from her perspective. After what could be called the longest five minutes in the history of the world, the ebony hedgehog finally uncrossed his arms and spoke.

"I know you mean the best for me Rouge, but only I can determine what is best for myself. Not anyone else." Shadow turned his head to the side so that he could look at her as he told her his thoughts.

"I may have my insecurities, but I don't need to have them rub off on anyone else. So you trying to get me to talk and date this girl isn't going to change the fact that I'm not good for her, or for anyone for that matter." Shadow then made his way to the door and removed the chair from its place underneath the door knob. "This was a mistake, I knew I shouldn't of shown my face here." Shadow said as he began to twist the knob to leave, only to be stopped by Rouge placing her foot in front of the door, causing it to be stopped suddenly and leaving the door slightly cracked.

"Shadow! Just cut it out for a second. I know you have a lot of thoughts clouding your judgment and mind at the moment, but just give me a couple of minutes to explain something." Rouge had finally had her fill of the hedgehog's stubbornness and one way or another he was going to listen to her dammit! Shadow rolled his eyes in irritation at the fact that his exit wasn't going to be happening. With a sigh he let go of the door knob and closed the door.

"Explain yourself then." Shadow bluntly spoke as he leaned against one of the counters and waited for Rouge to speak.

"You need Amy, and Amy needs you. You need to stop pushing people away and get out more and Amy is the person who can help you accomplish that. Amy needs someone to be there for her, she hasn't exactly had someone like that in her life." She explained, earning a curious look from the dark hedgehog that had heard something that sparked his interest.

"What do you mean?" He asked, wondering what entailed. The bat hesitated, she wasn't sure if Amy would appreciate spilling her life story to someone like Shadow who she barely knew. However, knowing Shadow he would keep quiet, therefore eliminating the worry that briefly haunted Rouge's judgment.

"Amy is a very...how do I put this...delicate person." She began, as the ebony hedgehog nodded, eagerly awaiting what the bat had to say about the pink hedgehog in the other room. "She's had a very rough upbringing. She never knew her parents, so she was placed in foster care and she was neglected by her adoptive parents. She eventually was able to find a new home and find better parents a few years later but she still has some insecurities about herself, like whether or not she is good enough for anyone or if she is worth anything." Shadow never knew, seeing her in high school and how better off she was on the social pyramid, he would have never have guessed that anything of the sort could have remotely happened to her. She was beautiful and always so full of happiness and energy that one in their right mind could have resisted the contagiousness of her joy. It brought a smile to everyone's face just seeing the light that was her smile cast it's glow upon the world, and even though Shadow would never admit it, her smile was indeed one of the most treasured things on this planet. A smile faintly tugged at his lips at the thought of having every single of those divine looking smiles directed his way. Shadow quickly realized he was daydreaming and ceased it immediately to focus back on Rouge speaking.

"So like I said earlier, there's more to this than meets the eye. You both need each other and are more alike than you two think. I'm doing this as a way to help better you both and just because I planned this doesn't mean it is going to work." He mulled over what he had heard, yes, he could kind of see what she was meaning. He and Amy were both broken in their own way, Rouge was trying to not only fix him, but her as well. She was trying to repair both friends by putting them together. It was rather ingenious, he would give her that, but there was just one thing that he couldn't grasp fully.

"What do you mean it isn't going to work? You're the one who put the thought into conjuring all this up." Rouge just chuckled to herself, it was rather obvious but for some reason the dark hedgehog just blinded to what was standing right before him.

"It isn't going to work if you don't want it to." Rouge said plainly as she walked over and leaned on the counter next to him. "And seeing as how you were smiling and thinking about her when I was explaining things to you, I'd say that you want it to work." Shadow blushed madly as Rouge laughed at his face rapidly turning a dark shade of red.

"Is it that obvious?" He grumbled.

"Very much so." The bat teased as Shadow tried to hide his face with his hands, hoping that anything could smite him down or turn him invisible so he wouldn't have to face the torment that was Rouge's teasing.

"How do you women know these things?" Shadow asked as Rouge just laughed and placed a hand on the ebony hedgehog's shoulder.

"We're psychic, and we are not only good at piecing two and two together, but we are also great judges of character. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think that you were a good guy Shadow. Just please, give this a chance." Rouge pleaded as she grabbed his hands and pulled them away from his face, the blush still there.

"If I...were to say...give this a chance...could you help me?"

"Pfft. Help you? Hun, I'm an expert." Rouge boasted as Shadow shared a laugh with the bat.

"It's just that I'm uh...not experience. I've never been with a girl...I've never been on a date. I have no clue what I'm doing and I have no idea how to even approach her." Shadow revealed, surprising the bat. Out of all the things that she hadn't expected Shadow to say, it was that. He was edgy, tough, and a badass, all qualities that would seemingly make him a chick magnet, and yet here he was confiding in her that he hadn't had a single girl by his side.

"How about this?" Rouge offered. "If you give this a chance, I will help you every step of the way and I'll teach you everything I know."

"Alright, fine. You've got a deal." Shadow finally gave in, internally the bat was squealing with overwhelming joy. She had finally convinced Shadow to do this! She was one step closer to actually making this work, there was just one more variable that she had to count on and that was her secret weapon.

"Well, well, well, so the mighty do fall after all." Rouge teased again as Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Don't get this twisted, I'm doing this for you. Not her." He stated as he crossed his arms and Rouge just smiled at him. He was already improving. "But while we are still here, care to explain that hocus pocus bull shit you did out there to make me draw her name?" Shadow asked sourly. A good magician never reveals their secrets, but hey,who was she kidding? She was no magician, just a really good thief that knows a thing or two at slight of hand.

"Well Shadow, if you were paying attention you would notice that slip of paper was marked." She glanced down to his pants pocket where she was positive that he had placed it. Sure enough, the dark hedgehog reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper. He looked all over it until he found a small, simple "X" drawn on with a red sharpie. How had he not noticed it before? Probably was in the heat of the moment of me being so pissed off I wasn't paying attention to details, Shadow thought as Rouge continued her explanation.

"With the paper being marked, all I had to really do was play keep away from everyone else who came up to draw names."

"Not a bad idea at all." Shadow admitted, knowing that he had gotten outsmarted by Rouge. He should have taken hints from their last conversation in the kitchen before as to what the name drawing would have entailed, but unfortunately for him, the one time he chose not to dwell on the past proceeded to be his downfall. The bat was really clever at this kind of thing, too much so for her own good. It was going to be the death of him one day, but until then he would put up with her antics and today was no exception. Now that she had succeeded in putting the pieces together to put her plan in motion, I guess he had no choice but to go along with it. On the bright side, at least he didn't have to defeat a whole alien race by collecting the chaos emeralds and end his daddy issues once and for all.

"Well now that we've discussed this matter, can we head back to the party? I'm sure people are starting to get worried about where I've been this entire time." Rouge asked Shadow as she walked towards the door and gripped the door knob.

"You don't think that they are worrying about me too?" Shadow's sarcastic tone made Rouge laugh.

"Of course they are! Let's go and have some fun!" She exclaimed as she opened the door and the two headed back towards the living room. Now that Shadow was on board all she had to do was coach him through this and help him step by step. Her first goal for him was to get ahold of Amy's number by the end of the night so that the two can stay in touch. She grinned as she thought of the plan as she and Shadow both entered the living room to rejoin the party. Shadow has Amy's name, but his rival does as well, something I didn't mention to him because Sonic is going to be Shadow's motivation and competition, oh it was going to be a holly jolly season for everyone!

A/N: And that does it for this chapter! I know it's a little shorter but I just wanted this to bridge into the next one since combining both would've made this waaay too long. Leave me a review and let me know what you think! They are always welcome and I do appreciate them. Well until next time I update (which I hope is soon) , see you guys later!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys! I know it has been long overdue but I am finally back with another chapter. Sorry to keep everyone waiting for so long, I just got caught up in life and also for a period of time just lost the will to write anything but fortunately I've come back around to seeing how amazing it is so I should be getting back into a schedule with it if things go right between school and work. Anyways, enough of me talking. Here we go!

Chapter 6:

It's Beginning to look a lot like the Friend Zone (For Now)

"Sorry about all of that, we're back." Rouge told all of her guests as she and Shadow returned to the living room much to the confusion of everyone in attendance.

"Where were you guys? You've been gone for ages, are we going to do this ugly sweater contest or what?" Sonic impatiently barked as he tapped his foot against the floor repeatedly in irritance, much to agreement of all of their friends who had also been wondering just where the two had been. Shadow was about to silence everyone himself with a few choice words before Rouge gave him a look that deflated his anger like a balloon before turning to her guests.

"Okay, we're terribly sorry alright? We lost track of time talking and Shadow was also telling me that he has a little something planned for us later this evening."

"He does?!" Sonic and the gang exclaimed.

"I do?" Shadow questioned stupidly as Rouge turned to him once more.

"Yes Shadow, do you not recall our conversation that we just got finished having?" Rouge said as she threw a couple of winks and nods in there for good measure, hoping he would play along. Shadow's eyes got wide as saucers, he didn't like where this was going but he knew better than to go against her wishes, he's been on the end of that before and it isn't exactly the prettiest thing ever.

"Ah, as a matter of fact I do remember. Silly me, my memory has always been really bad." Shadow played along as Rouge facepalmed at his reply. His improvised acting was so horrible, hopefully everyone didn't question his response and bought it. A few weird looks were given towards Shadow but nobody really said much except for Sonic who muttered.

"Your memory isn't the only thing that's bad, your game is too."

"What did you just say you blue imbecile?" Shadow retorted as he shook his fist at the blue hedgehog.

"Your memory isn't the only thing that's bad, your game is too. Read my lips asshole." Sonic slowly pronounced each word, making Shadow's anger rise with each syllable. Shadow knew approximately three hundred different ways to dispose of someone with his bare hands, and he wanted to execute each one of those methods onto the annoyance that stood in front of him known as Sonic the Hedgehog. Unfortunately though, the world is a very cruel place and before the two could clash the rest of the party intervened, separating the two before they could trade blows.

"Awh, I was hoping to see a brawl! Let 'em fight!" Charmy screamed in disappointment as everyone attempted to calm the rival hedgehogs down.

"Charmy, knock it off! We're at a party to have a good time, not to watch our friends rip each other to pieces." Vector scolded, shooting Charmy a glare that warned him to behave to which Charmy folded his arms and sighed.

"Fine."

Meanwhile, as the rest of the party rallied together and took time to calm down both Shadow and Sonic, Rouge snuck off to go and grab the sweater that she had grabbed for Shadow earlier in the kitchen.

"How many times are these two going to fight this evening?" Rouge wondered aloud as she picked up the sweater and paused to ponder her thoughts.

Like seriously, that's just tonight over the most trivial things. Imagine what it would be like over a girl. Rouge couldn't help but laugh at the thought. Oh lord help them, I may be having second thoughts about doing this now. Rouge made her way into the kitchen and saw her guests just lounging around talking as they waited on her to come back yet again. Okay who am I kidding? I could never go back on something like this, this is just gold.

"I'm baaaaaaack!" Rouge exclaimed as she entered the living room and tosses Shadow his sweater much to his dismay. He was hoping she would forget the damn thing but it's not easy to put something past Rouge it seems. "Okay, so after much delay we will finally be having our ugly sweater contest and it's going to start now. Guys line up by the fireplace, Amy, Cream, and Blaze, you'll be by my side judging." She motioned for the girls to come over towards her and all the guys hurried along and lined up by the fireplace as told. The order went as follows, Sonic, Tails, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Shadow, and Silver. "Well ladies, let's examine the awful specimens in front of us shall we?" Rouge stepped forward giggling along with the other girl judges as they went down the line determining which sweater was in fact the ugliest, which was tough considering all of them were as appealing as an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable mangled up in tangled up knots.

"God, is it over yet? This is like sitting in the dentist chair while they poke and prod the insides of your mouth with all those metal instruments." Shadow spoke, irritated that it was taking this long to look at sweaters.

"It's okay Shadow, it'll all be over soon I'm sure." Silver spoke, hoping to lighten up Shadow's spirits.

"Well maybe if Amy wouldn't have been flirting with that blue bonehead then we would have been done with this stupid contest already." Shadow spoke, feeling his temper spike again. He knew why he was getting so angry, but he didn't dare reveal it to anyone other than Rouge. Shadow hated feeling this way at these kinds of gatherings because in all honesty he loved people's company, although he would never admit it but he just hated seeing Amy focus all of her attention on that blue nuisance. What did she see in him? He was an arrogant, cocky, showboating, jerk that was as reckless as they come. Do girls find that attractive? It sure as hell seems that way to me, Shadow thought as he watched the girls move from Vector to Espio.

"Just be patient, you might even win!" Silver whispered, hoping that Shadow would get excited at the thought of winning a contest. Instead, Silver's words only irritated Shadow further, causing his anti social barrier to come back up again. Moments went by before Shadow huffed in impatience.

"Chaos, they are taking eons to judge. They need to hurry up before my shoes go out of style." He muttered as Silver sighed, knowing that no matter what he did his efforts in the end would be fruitless.

"It's no use."

"Shut up." Shadow said in a gritty tone, silencing Silver. Not even I would touch you with a thirty nine and a half foot pole, Silver thought angrily as the girls moved on from Espio to Charmy. He could hear the girls giggling as they whispered their opinions amongst one another and for some reason this brought a creeping nervousness upon the ebony hedgehog. For some unknown reason, he didn't like the idea of having so much attention focused solely on him. His heart began to beat faster as he realized that he was next. He felt like that kid in high school who knew that he had to be up in front of the whole class next to present but he had no idea what he was going to do or say. Suddenly without even realizing it he had four pairs of eyes looking directly at him, he had zoned out for so long he didn't even know that they had finished judging Charmy and that it was now his turn.

Oh shit, Shadow thought as he felt a bead of sweat form and he could hear his heart pounding in his ear like a bass drum. This was no bueno.

"Um, Shadow?" Rouge asked, concerned for her friend as he appeared to have the thousand yard stare in his eyes.

"You okay?" Amy and Blaze asked in unison, sensing that Shadow was very much out of character right now.

"Mr. Shadow? You don't look too good." Cream remarked as she hid behind Amy, scared.

"YesIamokayeverythingisfinenothingiswrongatallIdon'tknowwhatwouldmakeyouthinkthatI'maperfectlynormalhedgehogwithnothingtohideatall!" Shadow clamped his mouth shut, his nervous breakdown pouring out of his mouth at a million miles per hour. Everyone was at a loss for words except for Sonic who had busted out into laughter at Shadow's outburst.

"Hmph, I'm okay." Shadow said as he regained his composure, unsure of what caused his quite bizarre actions.

"Alrighty, whatever you say you weirdo." Amy joked playfully, causing Shadow to realize why he was so nervous in the first place. He was afraid he was going to look like an idiot in front of the pink hedgehog and sure enough that is exactly what he did. Score one for the blue idiot, Shadow thought as his heart sank at the thought of Sonic one upping him in anything. He wasn't going to let that happen, he and Amy were going to be like Jack and Sally and nothing was going to get in his way. He'd bulldoze over that blue hedgehog a million times over if it meant winning over the pink beauty before him. Amidst his thinking, the girls had returned to whispering, looking over the disgusting sweater in front of them.

"Hey Shadow, how would you describe your sweater?" Amy asked the ebony hedgehog whose crimson orbs focused on her as he thought about his answer. Shadow lost himself in her jade pools as he thought about the happiness he could bring her that could make them light up even more. Unfortunately, his brain wasn't wanting to work the way he had wanted, so instead of responding to Amy's question he simply remarked her looks and said.

"Beautiful." Everyone turned to look at Shadow, what exactly was wrong with the antisocial hedgehog? Did someone put something in his food?

"What?" Amy questioned, genuinely confused as Rouge laughed, knowing why Shadow was acting like such a nervous wreck and a dork at the moment.

"I mean, not beautiful at all. It's horrendous, putrid, appalling, disgusting, heinous, dreadful, absolutely terrible, literally every adjective that can describe my sweater negatively is what my sweater is." Shadow said, hoping to recover from his really weird behavior that had probably convinced Amy that he was some kind of sociopath. The pink hedgehog giggled at Shadow's response, it was such a dorky thing to say and she couldn't help herself but find it funny.

"Shadow you're really something else." Amy said as she and the rest of the judges left to judge the final contestant Silver. Shadow gulped and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness that it was all over, he had never been more nervous or scared in his life. He had been to war with aliens, fought mechanized robots in swarms, and had defeated some of the biggest foes the world had ever seen and somehow, someway, a girl is what frightened him the most. How funny. The ebony hedgehog turned to join a conversation the other guys were having while they waited for the judged to finish up looking over Silver, when he got the feeling that someone was looking at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a pink hedgehog looking his way. As soon as Shadow turned his head though she was facing towards Blaze, whispering to her about something. He looked to Rouge who gave him a wink and a thumbs up. Shadow couldn't help but let a small smile appear on his face as he leaned against the fireplace.

"Guess me and that blue idiot are tied now." He spoke softly to himself as he drifted off into his thoughts once more, waiting for the judging to be over.

"I can't believe Espio won! This contest is rigged!" Sonic exclaimed, fuming at the fact that he wasn't first place like always, much to the annoyance of everyone.

"For the millionth time, this is not a popularity contest! Espio won fair and square!" Rouge screamed, hoping that the blue blur would get it through his thick skull that the contest was in fact not rigged.

"Whatever, I'm going outside to get some air." Sonic said as he dashed towards the front door and made his leave. Causing the party to fall into silence.

"Finally, some peace and quiet." Shadow stretched his arms out as he leaned his head back on the couch in comfiness at the fact that there was one less annoyance to deal with for the time being.

"Not for long." Rouge stated as Shadow gave her a questioning look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Remember the surprise you had for everyone?" Rouge asked as suddenly the pieces began to fall in place for Shadow to remember the events from earlier.

"Yes, I do. Hold on everyone, I'll be right back. Rouge would you like to come with me?" Shadow grabbed Rouge's arm as he dragged her out of the living room and up the stairs to the second floor.

"Okay, so what is this surprise you've been dangling over my head all night?" Shadow barked, wanting to know just what the hell was going on.

"Hold on, I'll go grab it." Rouge rushed past Shadow and opened the hallway closet just a few feet away.

"Grab it? C'mon Rouge, quit being cryptic with me and give me a straight answer."

"Well how is this for an answer?" Rouge retorted as she held up an acoustic guitar for Shadow.

"What?! You want me to play for them? Why?" Shadow was so confused, why did she want him to perform now at a secret santa party? It's not that good of a reason as to why he should play, he can understand like an actual party but this was just a get together, what was the point?

"Not them necessarily, play for her." Rouge said, revealing the final part of her plan for the night. Time seemed to stop for Shadow as it all finally made sense. He had asked for her help and now she was giving him just that, help.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I haven't played in a while and I don't even know what I would sing. I don't want to make it too obvious that my performance is for her so what do I do?" Shadow could feel his insecurity showing as he asked Rouge for advice, he had no idea as to what he should do. He had never been in this situation. He knew how disarm and destroy people but he didn't have the faintest of ideas on what to do when it came to girls.

"Well, here's what I got for you. I snatched Amy's phone after we had done the contest so just go on her spotify or whatever and pick a song to play. I think that sounds simple enough." Rouge suggested much to Shadow's dismay.

"You stole her phone? Rouge, I'm trying to make things work with this girl, I don't want to invade her privacy."

"Relax, you're just picking a song, it's not like you're going through something like her snapchat or whatever. Just pick a song and we'll see you downstairs, I'll tell them all you're using the bathroom. Her password is 1993 by the way." Rouge then began to make her way down the hall leaving Shadow to himself wondering just what he was going to do. Before he could think any further though Rouge whispered at him from the end of the hall. "Hide the phone until afterwards, I'll get it when it whenever you are finished playing for us. Good luck Shadow!" And with those words she departed leaving Shadow alone in the hall with the guitar in one hand and Amy's phone in the other.

"Chaos I hope this works." Shadow muttered as he typed in her password and accessed her spotify, browsing the countless songs on there until a couple moments later he found one he was familiar with. He remembered the chords faintly and decided to practice quietly until he remembered the lyrics and the chord progressions. He hid the phone inside his shoe (after placing it on silent of course) and made his way down the hall to the stairs.

"Thanks Rouge for all the help, here goes nothing."

(A/N: I don't own this song at all, this song is owned by the band who sings it and it is definitely not me, all rights belong to them.)

"Where is he?" Sonic asked, finally back from getting some air. Everyone seemingly ignored the blue blur as all the guests were immersed in conversation and enjoying everyone's company. Sonic, who never liked to be ignored decided to be much more vocal.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

"I'm right here you dingus." Shadow replied as he made his way into the living room, guitar hanging from its strap in front of him.

"Oooooooh he looks like a rockstar! He's so cool!" Charmy squealed in excitement as all eyes were on Shadow again as everyone whispered excitedly amongst one another, anticipating what he was going to play.

"So this was the surprise, what are you going to play Shadow?" Amy inquired, wondering just what he had in store for everyone. Shadow almost lost himself in those jade orbs again but Sonic was a saving grace this time (probably the only time) and rudely answered Amy's question.

"He's probably going to play some really lame christmas carol, like jingle bells."

"OOOH! Play that song from the Polar Express! I love that one!" Silver exclaimed passionately, as Blaze held onto him to calm him down.

"Not everyone likes that movie as much as you Silver."

"I know, I just really love that movie Blaze."

"Play Free Byrd!" Espio hollered, earning a weird look from everyone.

"What? Don't you guys get it? There's always that one person who is at a concert and they always yell Free Byrd, like the Lynnrd Skynnrd song and...okay forget. Nobody appreciates my humor." Espio grunted and folded his arms in defeat.

"Well I'm not playing any of those, I've got a different song in mind. Here's how it goes." Shadow moved his hands along the fretboard and began strumming the chords to the song.

"Oh, Florida, please be still tonight

Don't disturb this love of mine

Look how she's so serene

You've gotta help me out"

Shadow glanced over to Amy as he sang and noticed that her eyes were lit up with joy, he was singing one of her favorite songs ever, and it sounded just as good, if not better than the original to her. Shadow focused his attention back to everyone else as he continued to sing and play.

"And count the stars to form the lines

And find the words we'll sing in time

I wanna keep her dreaming

It's my one wish

I won't forget this

I'm outdated, overrated

Morning seems so far away

So I'll sing a melody

An hope to God she's listening

Sleeping softly while I sing

And I'll be your memories

Your lullaby for all the times

Hoping that my voice could get it right

If luck is on my side tonight

My clumsy tongue will make it right

And wrists that touch

It isn't much but it's enough

To form imaginary lines

Forget your scars

We'll forget mine

The hours change so fast

Oh, God, please make this last

'Cause I'm outdated, overrated

Morning seems so far away

So I'll sing a melody

And hope to god she's listening

Sleeping softly while I sing

And I'll be your memories

Your lullaby for all the times

Hoping that my voice could get it right

Could get it right

You could crush me

Please don't crush me

'Cause baby I'm a dreamer for sure

And I won't let you down

I swear this time I mean it

And I'll sing a melody

And hope to God she's listening

Sleeping softly while I sing

And I'll be your memories

Your lullaby for all the times

Hoping that my voice could get it right"

With one final strum, Shadow brought the song to its conclusion as everyone applauded and cheered for him. Amy got up from her place on the couch and wrapped her arms around Shadow in a hug that nearly took his breath away.

"Shadow that was absolutely amazing, you're so talented." The pink hedgehog complimented as Shadow's face began to flush the same color as his eyes.

"Thank you Amy, that means the world to me." Shadow said as everyone kept cheering and applauding, except for Sonic who was watching Shadow questioningly, something was up but he didn't know what. Whatever it was though, he didn't like it one bit. All of the guests in attendance went up to Shadow and compliment his performance and talked amongst themselves until Rouge whistled to get everybody's attention.

"Alright everyone, it's been a long evening and I think I'm going to call it a night, it is 2 in the morning after all, I'll see everyone later."

"It's 2? Oh wow, time sure does fly." Amy said, completely amazed that the night had gone by so quickly. Shadow walked past everyone and up to Rouge, he handed her the guitar and making sure that nobody was looking in his direction bent down towards his shoe when Rouge stopped him.

"Don't worry, I already got it."

"But how?" Shadow asked, seriously wondering how she could have gotten it out of his shoe without him knowing.

"I have my secrets and my ways. What matters is that you nailed that performance. You looked like a true star." Rouge praised as Shadow tried to act all cool.

"I felt like I did alright."  
"Oh who are you kidding? You were on cloud 9 when you were over there playing, you can't fool me you stubborn hedgehog." Rouge teased as she playfully punched Shadow in the shoulder, causing him to smile a little.

"Thanks for your help, it means a lot." Shadow said, thanking Rouge for everything she had done for him tonight.

"Don't thank me just yet Shadow, this is just the beginning." Rouge suddenly darted her head to the side to look past Shadow and smiled. "It looks as though someone is waiting for you."

"Huh?" Shadow turned around and saw that everyone else had made their way out the door except for Amy, she stood there with a smile on her face looking right at him.

"Go get her edgy boy." Rouge teased as she grabbed Shadow and Amy and pulled them towards the front door and before either hedgehog knew what was going on they found themselves outside on Rouge's porch.

"Well that was rather rude." Amy commented as she adjusted her winter jacket.

"I mean, it's Rouge. She gets grumpy when she wants people to leave." Shadow replied as he and the pink hedgehog both made their way down the stairs towards the driveway.

"I can tell." Amy said as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her car keys, unlocking her car. Shadow fell silent and neither hedgehog said a word until Amy opened her driver side door and looked at him with concern.

"You okay Shadow? You've been kind of all over the place tonight." Amy asked, curious as to what was causing the ebony hedgehog to act the way he did throughout the night. Shadow tensed up, he knew he couldn't tell her now, it was too early on in the game to tell her how he felt. What would he tell her though.?

"Just had a lot on my mind is all." Shadow winced internally at the sentence he just uttered, he let out a piece of his inner thoughts and how he was feeling. He was going to slip up, he just knew it.

"Like what? You can tell me anything, you know that right?" Amy was reaching out to him, she was wanting to understand what was going on. Shadow could feel a tingly sensation inside his heart, he could relate to how the grinch's heart had grown three sizes on Christmas day at that moment because he had never felt so elated in his entire life.

"I know, I guess I was just all nervous and everything from being around people that I haven't seen in years. I was having an inner war between the anti social side of me and the side of me that wanted to connect with everyone again." Shadow confessed, he didn't realize just how deeply he let out his thoughts until he looked back on it but even then he didn't regret it. It seemed as though she had the ability to get past his tough exterior and see the content of the character he truly was behind it.

"It's okay Shadow, it must be very difficult to have all of us thrown back into your life at once. I'm sorry if we all gave you a hard time tonight." Amy apologized as she dragged the ebony hedgehog into another embrace, this time however it was much gentler and much more peaceful than the last one he had. Shadow was going to say something, but he didn't know what, for once he was at a loss of words and so rather than speak he enjoyed their embrace until it was broken apart by the pink hedgehog.

"Well, I must get going, it is late and I do have to work. Stay in touch? I can give you my number." Shadow's heart soared at the idea of getting Amy's number, he couldn't believe that after all the events that had occured over the course of the evening he was actually going to be able to keep in touch with her.

"Sure, I'd love that." After exchanging numbers, Amy said goodbye and closed her car door before driving off into the night, leaving Shadow on the driveway with a huge smile plastered on his face. Before he could leave however, a booming voice screamed, "I BELIEVE IN MAGIC!" and right after the glass to the second story window broke, showing a drunken Knuckles plummeting down onto the snowy ground below.

"KNUCKLES YOU IDIOT I"M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Rouge howled as leaned at the window shaking her fist at the drunken echidna sprawled out on the ground. Without further hesitation, Shadow began to make his exit away from the house because knowing how tonight had been there was more than likely going to be an echidna pushing up daisies before the sun rose.

A/N: Hey guys so I know this chapter was a lot longer than normal but I decided to treat everyone with it because I know that I have been away for a while. Like I said, the song "I Swear this Time I Mean it" by Mayday Parade is not owned by me or ever will be but I just wanted to clarify. Anyways I hope to get back on a writing routine and update my stories daily since it has been a long time since I've updated any of them but I hope this does it for now. Leave me some reviews because I appreciate them so much and I'll see you guys next time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Love Me Tinder….

A/N: Hello again! Miss me? I felt really bad about not updating for long until just yesterday so I decided to do all of my homework just to reward you all with another chapter. Hopefully you all enjoy it because this one has been one of my favorites to write thus far so with that being said. Enjoy!

"Are you tired of not knowing how to talk to girls? Are you just that guy that hides in his room and avoids social interaction like Gremlins do sunlight? Well today we will put an end to that and I, Zeustron, will make a man out of you." The voice from the youtube video boomed ecstatically through the phone speaker, much to the annoyance of Shadow who disliked the video from the start.

"I can't believe this is what I have resorted to." The ebony hedgehog growled bitterly underneath his breath as he just glared angrily at his phone screen. He felt so desperate at this point, it had been a couple of days since the secret santa party at Rouge's house and ever since he had gotten Amy's number, he hadn't been able to work up the courage to send her a text or anything. Yeah, that's right, the same hedgehog who single handedly went head to head with Black Doom and legions of soldiers both human and alien was completely nervous about texting a girl. He tried to rationalize his hesitation as he was waiting for the perfect time to message her, he just didn't want to text her right off the bat and seem so whiny and desperate. Shadow wanted to wait so that when he did message her he wouldn't be some bumbling idiot like he was at the party. As time went on however and the minutes turned to hours and then those hours turned to days, he slowly started to realize that if he didn't get some kind of help he was never going to be able to text the pink hedgehog.

If that happens than all of my efforts would have been in vain, Shadow thought as he paused the lame video, set his phone down on the dresser, and got up off of his bed and looked out of his apartment window at the massive, sprawling city of Westopolis. The sun was out and the city as usual was all hustle and bustle since it was early afternoon. There were no clouds out so the sun was in full effect, casting it's warm rays of light down to the city below. Shadow just stared out the window, pondering about what he was going to do about his predicament.

I honestly don't have a single clue as to what I should do. Shadow brooded as he continued to think of all the various ideas of what he should say. Many words and sentences came into his mind but each one was worse than the last. "Hey", "hey what's up?", "how are you?", just very generic openers and he was afraid that none of them will do. Plus on top of that it's been two days since he had gotten her number. That's a lot of time that has gone by and she was probably wondering what the hell had happened to him. He could just picture her worried expression as she wondered if he had been poisoned, kidnapped by some random foreign government, eaten by some cannibals, stranded on the top of mount everest. The list went on and on and that's when the ebony hedgehog shook his head and suddenly got a hold of himself. He was overthinking literally everything and whining about his situation instead of doing something about it. For chaos sake he was the ultimate life form, he should be fighting his problems head on not letting them swallow him whole. Unfortunately, he couldn't do this alone. The ebony hedgehog was stubborn as a mule but even he recognized the fact that this was one battle that he would need help winning. Without thinking any further, Shadow raced over to his bed and picked up the phone and texted Rouge.

"Hey, what are you doing? I need help with something." A few moments went by before he heard the sound of his phone chiming, indicating a response from the bat. He quickly unlocked his phone and opened her message.

"I'm not doing anything since Knucklehead is at work. Does this something involve Amy?" Shadow sighed in defeat, he didn't like the fact he was asking for help but sometimes you just can't go it alone.

"Yes, I haven't texted her yet even though I got her number at the party. I don't know what to say." Shadow didn't even have to wait longer than ten seconds before his phone chimed again and he looked at the bat's response which was just a simple, "on my way.".

"God, I hope this works." Shadow prayed as he laid down on his bed and let his body sink into the mattress, the cushions providing some comfort to the ebony hedgehog's rather tense body. He felt so wound up about this whole thing and he just wanted his mind and his heart to be at peace, but it seemed fate had different plans for him.

I hope I can still make this work, Shadow thought to himself as he continued to lay down, his eyes looking up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Apparently, he was so lost in thought that he didn't even realize how much time had gone by and that there was a knocking at the door. A voice then suddenly screeched from the other side.

"SHADOW! DO YOU WANT MY HELP OR NOT!"

Oh shit, Shadow frantically leapt out of bed and quickly unlocked the door and opened it to reveal Rouge in her usual attire with a very irritated expression on her face.

"Sorry." Shadow apologized as Rouge quickly passed him and entered his apartment.

"It's okay, just listen next time. For chaos sake I was out there banging on the door for at least five minutes." Rouge complained as she entered the living room and sat down on the couch. The bat couldn't help but look around, it was a rather nice place, small but cozy and not much furniture or decorations. Just the standard couch and tv along with some cabinets.

"Nice place Shadow." She complimented as Shadow took his place on the couch beside her.

"Thanks, but it's only temporary." Shadow responded as he placed his phone on his lap.

"What do you mean by that?" Rouge questioned, wondering what exactly the ebony

hedgehog meant by his words.

"That's not exactly important. What is though is the matter at hand." Shadow quickly cut

off the small talk, he was never a fan of it. He just wanted to get down to business so he could go back to doing things on his own.

"Well you sure know how to talk to a woman." Rouge giggled, earning a dark glare from

the ebony hedgehog beside her, deflating her joke. "Okay fine, we'll need to work on that at some point. For right now, give me details as to what is going on."

Shadow sighed, knowing that he was going to have to swallow his pride and accept that he did need help otherwise he wasn't going to do anything. He quickly explained the events of the past couple of days from the time he got his number up until now when he was wallowing in self pity that he couldn't do something as simple as message a girl. When he finished, he hung his head low and just stared at his phone with a blank expression. Rouge compassionately placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"Shadow, it's okay to be nervous. It's natural. You just can't keep letting it eat you up inside. Remember our conversation in the kitchen at the party? I said you needed to channel your fear into confidence and that I would help you." Shadow looked up at her, and he could see in her eyes that she truly meant what she said with those words. She was a friend willing to go out of her way to help him, and he was very grateful for that.

"Thank you Rouge, but like I said. I don't know what would be a good way to start things off with her."

"Well how about this, what kinds of things does she like? I know you remember the dinner we all had." Rouge said hoping to get Shadow to recollect things that could possibly help him. The ebony hedgehog sat there on the couch for a moment deep in thought, he looked like a contestant on Jeopardy with how long he sat there trying to remember bits and pieces of the conversation.

"I remember her mentioning that she was a photographer, and that she wants to open her own flower shop." Shadow answered, finally breaking the silence that hung in the air.

"Good! You remember some of her interests." Rouge exclaimed, earning a void stare from the ebony hedgehog.

"Okay, I'm not understanding. How is this material supposed to help me? I'm not just going to be like "Hey you should take some pictures of me sometime." or "How's the flower shop coming along?". Those just sound lame."

"Well if you would have let me explain a little further you would have heard me say that you could always use a pick-up line." Rouge said in a snarky tone, the void look on Shadow' face quickly turned into a confused one.

"A pick-up line?"

"Yes silly, don't you know what those are?" The bat asked, baffled that the hedgehog didn't know what a pick-up line was.

"No not at all." He replied, scratching his fur nervously. "Am I supposed to?"

"It is a very strong weapon that one should have in their arsenal when it comes to dating Shadow, they work like a charm when you are attempting to break the ice." Rouge explained, hoping to make Shadow realize just how important said pick up lines really are.

"Give me an example." Shadow demanded, eager to know just what this weapon could possibly be.

"Okay, how about this." Rouge cleared her throat before giving Shadow a flirtatious look. "You remind me of the twenty one letters of the alphabet." Shadow tried to hold in his laughter but he couldn't. How could she be so stupid? There are twenty six letters in the alphabet. The ebony hedgehog kept on chuckling to himself until he got his laughing under control before looking at the bat beside him.

"Rouge, there are twenty six letters." Shadow informed her before she giggled, still in character with this whole demonstration.

"Oops, I forgot. URAQT." She gave him a wink and sat back and watched the blush on Shadow's face form slowly but surely.

"Oh my chaos, that was so cheesy." He mumbled, hoping the blush would vanish quickly.

"Exactly! It works like a charm. Now how about you use one on Amy? I'm sure she'd enjoy it."

"I would, but I don't know any." Shadow said as he picked up the phone and unlocked it, his fingers hovering above the keyboard ready to type a message.

"That's why I'm here you goof. I'm here to help you. You said she was a freelance photographer right?" Rouge asked, receiving a nod from the hedgehog. "Why don't you try this. Hey girl, are you a camera, because every time I look at you, I smile."

"Um, doesn't that sound just a little bit creepy?" Shadow asked, wondering how something as stupid and cheesy was going to work but Rouge just gave him an annoyed expression.

"Only if you think about it that way. Anyways, go ahead and try it. The worst thing that could happen is that she would laugh it off." Shadow turned his attention from her and to the phone that was open on the draft message he was going to send to Amy. These were unknown waters he was treading on he knew that much. However, he didn't know what was going to happen until he did something. Underneath the helpful and watchful eye of Rouge the bat, the ebony hedgehog slowly typed up the cheesy pick up line that Rouge had given him. His finger hovered over the send button for a few seconds, nervous as to what her reply would be but before he could think any further, he pressed it and shortly thereafter the message was delivered.

"We have a lot of work to do." Rouge acknowledged after watching Shadow hesitate on sending the message.

"What do you mean? I did what you said!" Shadow yelled, tossing his phone on the couch and standing up.

"It means that in order to date Amy, you're going to need a lot of help." Rouge declared, standing up as well only a couple of feet apart from the ebony hedgehog. He was stubborn but she wasn't one to back down either. "When was the last time you went on a date with a girl?" Shadow just stood there, his crimson irises focused on Rouge but no words came out. He remained silent, and it was resounding silence that gave Rouge the answer she had come to expect.

"Exactly. I'm going to help you Shadow become so irresistible that you'll have Amy in no time. Now you just have to do what I say. You are about to undergo some serious training." Rouge quickly grabbed Shadow's phone that was on the couch before the hedgehog could react.

"What the hell is this, bootcamp?" Shadow said in a smartass tone as he tried to wrestle the phone out of Rouge's grasp, to no avail. Her grip on his phone was equivalent to that of Thor's on his hammer, it wasn't going anywhere. After a couple of moments of tugging back and forth, Rouge retained control of the phone and quickly went into the app store.

"Yes actually. This is going to whip you into shape Shadow. I'm going to walk you through on how to be the perfect guy. However, the present finding will all be up to you. You have to be able to do that. Your first lesson though, will be on how to talk to girls."

"Didn't we just do that?" Shadow whined as he plopped back down on the couch, regretting his decision on inviting Rouge over.

"That was one girl Shadow, we need to get you more comfortable so you don't act like you did at the Christmas party. Don't think we haven't forgotten about that." Rouge chuckled thinking back on Shadow and his nervous breakdown. Shadow just wished the mattress would just turn into a carnivorous beast and eat him alive. That would be ten times more pleasant than have to go through this vigorous training program that Rouge had planned for him. Speaking of which, just what was she doing with his phone?  
"Rouge, what are you doing with my phone?" Shadow inquired, watching the bat type away on his phone.

"Well if you are going to get any sort of experience we need to get you a Tinder." Rouge replied as she continued typing away on his phone.

"How in the hell is a tenderloin going to help me?!" Shadow barked, wondering just what the hell Rouge was talking about. This bat was driving him up the walls, just what was she scheming?

"Not a tenderloin Shadow, Tinder. It's a dating app." Rouge informed the socially inept hedgehog as she revealed the phone to show that the app was downloading on his phone.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" The ebony hedgehog screamed as he launched himself from the couch to grab his phone. Rouge sidestepped rather easily and Shadow crashed to the floor, landing on his stomach. He felt like the kid who belly flopped off the ten foot diving board, he just didn't want to move plus he didn't think about what would happen if he missed. His stomach was in pain but after a few seconds his regeneration kicked in and then afterwards he didn't feel anything at all. He got back up to his feet and gave Rouge an evil glare.

"This isn't a good idea." Shadow stated as Rouge looked up at him and gave him a smile.

"I promise you, that when everything is all said and done. You'll thank me. This is to help better prepare you." Shadow just growled and folded his arms in protest, he really hated this whole situation. If I would have just worked up the courage to say something as simple as hello, I wouldn't be here right now. Instead I have a bat messing around on my phone making a dating profile for me. My life has become a mess, Shadow thought glumly as he turned his back on Rouge and let her do whatever it was that she was doing.

As long as things go well, I'll leave things to her for now. Shadow closed his eyes and just prayed that she would hurry up. She had already taken forever and his patience was already shot from everything that had taken place. He just wanted to sleep the rest of the day away and pretend that none of this ever happened.

"Yoo-hoo! You got to really stop zoning out, I finally finished your profile." Rouge hollered at Shadow who opened his eyes and squinted at her.

"You better not have made a fool out of me." He replied darkly as he grabbed back his phone and looked at his profile. His jaw dropped at Rouge's work. What had she done? There were various pictures of him on a motorcycle, holding guns, and playing his guitar and his description was between parodying himself and also being truthful. It was actually quite remarkable. He had to reread the description and couldn't help but laugh internally at it.

"Who would win, an entire army of aliens determined for world conquest? Or one edgy boi? I think you know the answer. Guns, motorcycles, and rock music are my favorite. I'm no faker, I'm the coolest and I'm the Ultimate lifeform, also a musician.

Favorite song: I Am...All of Me by Crush 40

Favorite movie: The Dark Knight

Looking for someone to help me go out and enjoy what the world has to offer."

"Well...what do you think?" Rouge asked with a smile on her face, pleased to see that Shadow could at least see the humor of it all.

"I think this is your best work yet." Shadow chuckled as he handed the phone back to her. "So now what do we do?" He asked, wondering what the next step to his training was.

"We swipe and then we-." Before Rouge could finish Shadow's phone chimed, indicating that there was a new message for him to read. Perplexed, Shadow looked at the phone and his heart nearly stopped, there was a message from Amy. The pink hedgehog had finally responded.

"Oh chaos." Shadow whispered to himself as Rouge looked over his shoulder to see what was going on.

"What did she say?" She asked as he opened the message, and it said…

A/N: And I'll stop it there for now, you'll just have to find out what it said next time. Next chapter is going to be full of all sorts of things. Such as what was Amy's reply? How is Shadow going to handle Rouge's training? And how successful will Shadow be on Tinder? Well until next time, leave me a review and I hope to update shortly. Signing off!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Ok so this chapter is long overdue and I apologize. School and work have been getting in my the way of my writing so I had to unfortunately take some time to dedicate myself to that but now that I have found some free time, I figured I'd give you another chapter. This one is going to be kickstarting a lot of things so keep your eyes open as I have left a few surprises in this chapter including a cameo (see if you can catch it, if you do PM me your answer). Anyways, here it is and I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 8:

Green Light Ride

"Oh, my god that was so cheesy. I love it. That doesn't seem like you Shadow, you alright? I'm surprised I didn't hear from you sooner." Shadow read aloud much to Rouge's delight.

"I told you it would work, there was nothing to worry about." Rouge smirked as Shadow just grumpily folded his arms and watched the bat as she handed the phone back to him. "Now I'm going to leave you to your own devices, message her back."

Shadow stared at the phone screen as he contemplated his next move, what should he respond with?

"Damn it Shadow, this is talking to a girl not a chess match!" The ebony hedgehog scolded himself as his fingers started typing up a simple message. Rouge just giggled at Shadow's frustration as he finally hit send and watched until the screen confirmed his message had been sent.

"What did you say?" Rouge snatched the phone from him and looked over what he had typed. "Yeah, it's just been a busy past couple of days. Sorry I didn't message you."

"That was good right?" Shadow asked as he looked at the bat who sighed in response.

"It could have been be-." Rouge was interrupted by the ping of Shadow's phone, indicating that there was a notification. Without a second's hesitation she clicked on it and a smile grew on her face.

"What? What is it?" Shadow rushed to her side curious as to what she was smiling about.

"You got a match!" Rouge exclaimed as she squealed with joy.

"Well, I'll go get the gasoline and light myself on fire if it means I can get out of this training." Shadow mumbled as Rouge nudged him.

"No doofus, I mean you got someone who likes you." Rouge explained as she turned the phone for Shadow to see. "She's pretty cute too."

Shadow looked at the profile and had to admit Rouge was right about that. There in the first picture was a beautiful chipmunk with long flowing brown hair and eyes that were the color of the ocean in a fiery red dress. She was sitting atop a rock in the middle of the forest smiling and she looked genuinely happy to be there. Shadow swiped through all of her other pictures fascinated by the chipmunk in the photographs. He backed out of the pictures so that he could read her profile, she seemed like a very typical girl judging by what she had put on there. The one thing that caught his attention was her name.

"Sally." He whispered to himself thinking, where had he heard that name before? She was a total stranger but seemed so familiar at the same time. Before he could dwell on it anymore, his phone chimed, indicating he had gotten a received a message from the app.

"Look at that, she messaged you." Rouge said as she watched over the hedgehog's shoulders to see how he would handle things. Shadow said nothing as he looked to see that she had messaged him first.

"Hey handsome." It read and there was even a winky face at the end. Shadow could feel his face slightly turn red as he looked to Rouge, he needed advice. He knew that in order to get with Amy he was going to need training but he was still unsure about all of this. There were so many things that could go wrong, and he sure as hell didn't want that to happen.

"What do I say?" Shadow asked, practically begging for any kind of knowledge that he could use to help him in this conversation.

"Remember what I said earlier." Was all the bat spoke as she watched Shadow nervously sweat, he really did need to get a grip on himself.

"Hello?" Shadow quickly received a smack to the side of the head from Rouge. He shot her an angry glare as he rubbed the spot where he got thumped. "What the hell was that for?"  
"You're not Adele so I don't know why you are saying hello." Rouge remarked as Shadow quickly erased the word from the message.

"You're right. Can I type why hello there?" Just as soon as he got the words out of his mouth he once again got smacked upside the head by the bat. He growled in anger as he squinted his crimson eyes at her. He was getting real sick and tired of this.

"You're not Obi Wan Kenobi either. How about you use the tool I showed you earlier." Rouge enunciated the last sentence slowly, hoping that the ebony hedgehog would pick up on the art of context clues and thankfully he did. His eyes lit up and she could just imagine a light bulb going off over his head as the idea occurred to him.

"I have to use a pick up line don't I?" Shadow asked as Rouge simply nodded, he pulled up a tab on google and he did a quick search and found one that he liked.

"You're already learning darling." Rouge commented as Shadow typed it in and turned to Rouge for approval. "Let me ask you something. Did it hurt, when you fell from heaven?"

"I think she will love it." That was enough for Shadow to hit send and wait a moment before she responded again. He opened the phone to look at what she had replied with.

"Not as much as when I fell for you." Shadow read her response aloud to Rouge and he could feel his face flush crimson as the bat squealed in excitement.

"You got her hook, line, and sinker! You have to ask her out now!"

"Already? So soon?" Shadow looked at the bat quizzically, not sure if this is how things were supposed to work.

"Yeah! I mean she already likes you, and judging by that response she clearly wants to go out." Rouge explained as Shadow's fingers hovered over the keypad, he decided to take a leap of faith and trust Rouge's advice and ask her out. But what would they do? He had no idea what he was supposed to do on a date.

"What should we do for a date? I'm kind of lost there." Shadow admitted, not really sure what the game plan was now.

"Hmmmm…" Rouge thought for a moment before an idea popped into her head. "How about "Zona collinare verde"? They have really good italian food from what I hear."

Shadow liked the sound of that. "Sounds like a plan." He quickly typed up a message asking her if she'd be interested in going out to eat at the restaurant that Rouge had mentioned and sent it.

"Ok, so now what are we going to do? You suckered me in on this date so you better help me get through this, I have 3 weeks before your party and I need to be able to woo Amy by then."

"Relax, don't worry. We're going to need to do a few things first though before you go out on this date." Rouge replied as the ebony hedgehog swiftly pulled his phone out to the sound of his phone chiming a couple of times. He looked at the notifications, one was a message from Amy, the other was a message from Sally.

"I'll message Amy later." He mumbled to himself as he opened the message from Sally and read it aloud. "Ooooh, straight to the point. I love it. Does 5 work for you?"

"We can definitely do that, it's only twelve-thirty right now. That should give us plenty of time to do what we need to do to get you ready." Rouge walked over to Shadow's room and started going through his closet in an attempt to find something for Shadow to wear. After Shadow had agreed to the time and to pick her up Sally had messaged the hedgehog her address and he put his phone away and walked to his room and stopped in the doorway with his jaw agape.

"Rouge, it literally looks like a tornado went through here."

"I know! I can't believe you don't have a single good looking piece of clothing in here. You just seem to have nothing but the whole hot topic catalogue in there. We definitely need to get you something new." With that she dragged Shadow out of the room and to the door.

"Where are we going?!" Shadow demanded where he was being dragged against his will, he didn't like where this was headed.

"TO THE MALL!" Rouge screamed happily as the ebony hedgehog groaned and continued to be dragged out of his apartment. This was going to be one hell of a day.

So after being dragged around by Rouge for a few hours, the two had managed to get quite a lot of things to prepare for Shadow's date/training. Rouge had opted to buy everything so she spent no expense. She bought the ebony hedgehog some new cologne named _Puissant le tatou_ , which she thought smelled rather good unlike Shadow who thought it smelled an awful lot like charcoal. Then they went and bought Shadow a black dress shirt and pants as well as a crimson tie. Then after getting Shadow the appropriate shoes he needed to complete his attire, Rouge made Shadow get some hair gel and she helped him (much to his resistance) with parting his quills to the side. Needless to say whenever they had gotten back to Shadow's apartment, Rouge wanted him to go and try on everything and put on the cologne.

"I don't think this is necessary, why do I have to model this stuff for you? We already know that it looks fine." Shadow complained as Rouge handed him the bags with the clothes in it.

"We have an hour left so I want to at least make sure everything looks as good as it should." She replied as Shadow grabbed the bags and marched to the bathroom. Rouge found her way to the couch and sat down as she patiently waited for Shadow to come out. A few minutes later, the ebony hedgehog came out and Rouge was stunned. He looked incredibly handsome, but he also looked badass with his quills to the side and the black and the red of his attire complimenting his fur. Rouge playfully purred as she gave Shadow a quick up and down, earning an eye roll from the hedgehog.

"Does it look good or not?" Shadow demanded as he folded his arms, he just wanted to go and get this over with. "I literally look like a copy and paste of emo Peter from Spiderman 3."

"Well with that attitude it doesn't, and no you do not. You're real eye candy till you start talking Shadow, I hope you've realized that." She scolded as Shadow mumbled something underneath his breathe, she didn't care though, she felt proud that she had succeeded in making the ebony hedgehog as handsome as possible and now she had one final thing to do before he went out.

"Here take this." She handed him a small earpiece and revealed another one for herself, she quickly put it on so that Shadow could do the same. "It's to help us communicate, I'm going to try and help you out the best you can."

"Since when did you have these?" Shadow asked as he made sure his earpiece was in and secured.

"Since you went to go and take a leak, I thought that after I made reservations at the restaurant for you I'd buy these so that I could help you with your training."

"I just feel like the damn secret service now, hopefully I don't mess this up." Shadow turned and began walking to the door with Rouge in tow.

"You won't mess this up, I got your back Shadow." She said reassuringly, giving the ebony hedgehog a pat on the back. "Besides, I got a little surprise for you." She rushed past him and he shut the door to his apartment before he followed her.

"What is it?" He asked as he trailed her to the elevator and she gave him a smirk.

"Well if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise anymore now would it?"

After a couple minutes of walking out of the apartment complex and to the parking lot Shadow was eager to know just what Rouge had up her sleeve. She's done a lot for me today there is no disputing that and I'm thankful for it, but what else could she have gotten for me? Shadow thought to himself, as he continued to follow Rouge to a particular parking spot and his eyes grew wide in astonishment as he realized what the surprise was. In the parking spot was a jet black Honda Shadow Phantom motorcycle, the newest model that they just put out.

"It's all yours for the night." Rouge tossed the helmet hanging on one of the handlebars to Shadow who caught it. "Just don't get a scratch on it or Knuckles will pound your face to a pulp." The ebony hedgehog gulped nervously, he'd seen the echidna in combat before and he definitely didn't want to fall victim to the unrelenting fury those fists were capable of.

"I promise you it'll return to you the way it was." Shadow promised as he grabbed the keys from Rouge and started it up. He revved the bike a couple of times, enjoying the roar he got from the engine before backing up.

"Tonight, your training begins Shadow. Let's see how you do." Shadow simply just nodded and put the helmet on. As soon as it was fastened, he took off, leaving Rouge behind to walk back up to Shadow's apartment, and wait for Shadow to take his date to the restaurant.

Shadow zoomed through the city, having a blast at the speed he was getting from the bike. He could run faster obviously, but he loved the rush he would get from just going at a normal speed for a change. Every time he saw the yellow light he would rev the engine and speed on through and he would weave in and out between vehicles on the highway whenever he got the chance. He had to head to Emerald Town which was only a twenty minute drive from his apartment which wasn't too bad. Shadow couldn't help but think to himself that this was a bad idea. Sure he wanted to impress Amy, but was he going about it all the wrong way? He felt like if everything went wrong he would end up like Mordecai from that episode of Regular Show where Margaret broke up with him. He didn't want to end up a sorry, sad sap all because of a girl. He wanted to have something special with her, and nothing was going to get in his way. He shook off his negative thoughts and focused on the task at hand which was picking up Sally. The ebony hedgehog pulled off of the highway and towards the traffic light leading into Emerald Town. Shadow stopped at the red light and couldn't help but look over to the sound of rock music being played out of an Escalade beside him.

In the vehicle, a man with spiky black hair was writing something in a notebook while the driver, an older asian guy with long flowing grey hair was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm of the song. Shadow watched the two as they didn't appear to have noticed him, and they seemed to be lost in their own little world.

"I like the beat and feel of the song, it's just I can't think of a name of the song or any lyrics! We have to have this done by the end of the week!" The man with the spiked up black hair groaned as he scratched what he had down off with his pencil and sighed in frustration.

"Johnny, it's okay. I know that we will think of something. Life has a way of providing inspiration at the strangest of times." The asian man spoke to the one named Johnny, who had his head down looking at the notebook hoping for some stroke of inspiration.

"I hope you're right Jun." Johnny said as he continued to listen to the music and nod his head to the beat. At this point the light had been green for a few moments and Shadow hadn't been paying attention. He heard a car honk behind him, signaling for him to go.

"GET YOUR ASS MOVING!" He heard someone yell out from behind him. Without waiting any longer, Shadow revved the engine and flew down the road leaving the two men in the Escalade behind in awe. They started to drive and that is when Johnny started putting the pencil to paper and began jotting down some lyrics.

"Johnny, what are you writing down?" Jun asked as he glanced over to see him feverishly writing words down.

"Start the song over, I think we'll have this song done by the end of the night. We have the music, and now we got a title and some really powerful lyrics to back it up." Johnny spoke confidently, earning a questioning look from Jun.

"What is the name of the song?"

"Green light ride."

Shadow eventually made it to the address and pulled up to the driveway. He parked the bike, took off his helmet, and made his way up to the small but nice looking house. He rang the doorbell and patiently waited a moment before the door opened. Revealing Sally in a tight black dress and heels. She flashed him a smile, causing his heart to flutter for a second.

"Hey Shadow, ready to head out?" She asked flirtatiously leaving Shadow speechless for a moment before he regained his composure, earning a laugh from the chipmunk. Oh god, I'm already failing, Shadow thought.

"I am. Are you ready?" He mentally facepalmed at his question, why would he ask that if she was ready to head out. It was going to be a long night that was for sure.

"Well then, shall we head to the restaurant?" Sally closed the door behind her, and with a nod from Shadow and followed him towards the driveway. He grabbed his helmet from the handlebar and put it on and started the bike up, Sally climbed on and slipped her arms around him.

"Nice bike, I really love it." She complimented as Shadow revved the engine and pulled out of her driveway.

"Thanks, you'll love her even more once we really get going." Shadow said as he flew down the road towards the highway, it would be about a half an hour before he got to the restaurant but he didn't mind. He was going to enjoy the ride while it lasted.

After finding parking, the two began the walk to the restaurant, Sally was making some small talk and Shadow was responding a little more confidently but he knew that he was going to need Rouge's help once they got inside. Shadow held the door open for Sally and the two made their way inside the restaurant. Shadow took in the scenery and noticed the giant glass chandelier that hung from the ceiling. It was a remarkable looking place, it looked like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. He turned to Sally who really enjoyed what she was seeing as well.

"Hopefully their food is just as good." She remarked, earning a chuckle from Shadow.

"I hope so too." He responded as they approached the front counter. "Table for two please, Shadow the Hedgehog." Shadow said as the person at the front desk looked at them.

"Ah yes, Mr. Shadow. Right this way." They followed the guy from the front desk to a nearby table seated next to the window. "Your waiter will be with you shortly." With that he headed out, leaving the two to be seated.

"So is this your first date in a while?" Sally asked as Shadow fidgeted nervously with his sleeves.

"Yes actually, how did you know?" Shadow was genuinely curious as to how she knew something so embarrassing.

"Well I could just tell by your mannerisms. Also you just seem extremely nervous. It's okay, I don't bite." She joked as Shadow gave her a smile.  
"Well I would hope not, I'd hate for you to be some kind of vampire." Shadow remarked, earning a laugh from the chipmunk. The ebony hedgehog began to feel better and more sure about himself. Maybe this was going to be a lot more fun than he thought after all. Just then, they both noticed a figure standing by their table, they had been so wrapped up in their own little conversation that hadn't noticed anyone next to them.

"Hello I'm Sonic and I'll be your server today." The figure spoke, causing Shadow's heart to stop. Jesus Christ, I didn't hear what I just think I did, did I? Shadow cautiously glanced over and sure enough, it was the blue idiot himself, standing there waiting to take their order.

"Not you!" Shadow exclaimed, causing Sonic to put down his pen and paper to look at the two guests before him.

"Shadow….and Sally?!" Sonic said surprised at the two sitting down at the table before him.

"Sonic?!" Sally cried out as the three all began looking at one another, confused by just what was going on….

A/N: And that is going to do it for this chapter. This one was kind of hard for me to write and it may seem choppy in places but I do hope that you all enjoyed it. Next chapter we will see some more interesting developments that's for sure. Until next time, leave me a review! See ya!


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